Funerals and Stuff

I had to go to a funeral yesterday. Last week my coworker was killed in a traffic accident and yesterday was her funeral. I was ticked off about this accident because it needn't have happened. You can go back and read my previous post if you want to know why I say this. What I realized is that I needed to let go of my anger. Sometimes I hang on to anger out of selfishness. I had my say to those who needed to hear about my anger, so it is time to move on and I have. I am not a religious man, or a particularly contemplative one, but as I sat in the church listening to what was being said, I reflected on what I think it means to be alive and to be not alive in the human sense. I think that most people would agree that our human bodies are just bags of matter, like every other object around us. You know, dust to dust, that sort of thing. It is in the subject of our consciousness, our humanity, that opinions begin to diverge. Most people believe, or at least hope, that there is a better life beyond this one. While there is substantial disagreement on what that future life is and how we get there, the hope for better things is pretty much universal. The history of mankind is rife with the little man getting shafted by the powerful, so it is easy to see why we hope that the next life will be better. I don't spend much time trying to sort this out in my mind. I have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy when it comes to the meaning of life. I just try to do something useful with this life and I'll let things beyond that care for themselves. If it turns out that there really is a final judgment that I failed to prepare for, I guess I will be in trouble. I do know that the family of my coworker took great comfort in the words of the minister and in their hope that one day they would meet her again. I'm glad that gives them comfort. This is unrelated but I noticed something odd in a painting that was in the church. The painting showed Jesus holding up a book up for a group of his followers to see. I noticed that the edges of the pages were colored red so that if it was closed the stacked pages would be red on three sides. Why did the painter put that in? That bugged me the whole time I sat there. It was no less inaccurate than if the artist had painted earphones on Jesus, but I digress. At the end of the service a member of the family gave a eulogy that was funny and upbeat. Although I am sure I won't be able to draw flies to my final send off, if anyone shows up, I hope they can have a few yucks, even if they are at my expense. Tag: Daily Life