ALL DONE

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The wife of a friend of mine passed away this past week. I never met my friend’s wife, as she had been ill for most of the time that I have known him. But from the words of her family and friends at the funeral, she must have been a pretty spectacular person. Certainly she was a mother and wife in a beautiful family. My friend is a good and active member of my chorus, and we wanted to honor him and his wife by singing at the funeral.

Every now and then a poignant moment happens in life, and two such moments happened at the funeral. Immediately prior to the service, we remembered that it was the birthday of one of our members. In the church hall where we were waiting to enter the sanctuary, someone suggested that we sing Happy Birthday to the individual celebrating another year. It struck me as being a bit sacrilegious at first, but then I thought…why not? In fact, what better place is there to celebrate both the lives of those living and those who have left us? A character in one of my favorite movies, Steel Magnolias, called it her favorite emotion: laughter through tears. God blessed one with a journey to heaven, and another with one more year on God’s earth. Both deserve celebration. And so we sang.

I am always moved when I see generations of a family together at any kind of a gathering. This was no different. Grandpa and the children and the children’s children, including a beautiful little granddaughter who couldn’t have been more than 3 or 4 years old, coming together to say goodbye to Grandma. My friend’s wife requested that a song entitled “My God and I” be sung at the funeral, and the church pastor and his wife obliged in singing a duet of this unknown to me, but absolutely beautiful and moving hymn.

My God and I go in the field together;

We walk and talk as good friends should and do;

We clasp our hands, our voices ring with laughter;

My God and I walk through the meadow's hue.

We clasp our hands, our voices ring with laughter;

My God and I walk through the meadow's hue.

When the song was over, the little girl said loudly “All Done!”… to which the minister’s wife replied, “Yes, honey, and now it’s time to tuck Grandma in.” You could have heard a pin drop in the church’s stunned silence.

All done…what a fitting exclamation point to a life well lived. All done…what a better way to say that our work is over. All done…and now it is time to rest and for reward. That beautiful little girl said more in two words than any two theologians could say in their whole lives.

My deepest sympathy to my friend for his loss of a great companion and partner. And my thanks to his family for putting life in perspective in the simplest of terms. I hope that when somebody says “All Done” at our funerals, it is done with joy and purpose, and a smile for a job well done, that is now: All Done.