Ok, so I dont know what has been happening lately, but the eulogies at funerals lately have been soooo long! I went to see my organist Beth at her church for a few funerals last week - and for the most part they were very run of the mill. But.. of course there was one of them where there were words of rememberance given by the children of the deceased. Fine, no problem. So the daughter gets up and talks about her Dad and how funny and smart he was - it was all very sweet. Then her brother got up there. He had pages.. yes, pages of a eulogy - and of course he starts out, "I know Fthr Bob said to keep it to five minutes, well I will do the best that I can." You and I both know that he had no intentions of keeping it to five minutes - Well, now it is 20 minutes later, I am looking around to see what is going on. I look at the priest, he is trying to get the attention of the daughter so he can tell her to move her brother along - I look at my organist, she is so calm and collect - man, I love her. Of course inside, I am laughing because I love to watch the reactions of those I am working with - this business is crazy.
But in the end, the son finishes and I see the look of relief on the priest's face. I mean let's look at from the the side of the mourning. One can understand that when they have just lost someone so dear to them, of course it is hard to see them go. They feel that this is the time to talk about what a wonderful life that this person had lived. But on the other hand, the way to keep the deceased alive is to tell stories, and keep telling them. This is the way to keep the memories alive and by doing that, they keep them alive in their hearts.
So now we are at another part of the service where there are many readings of those who are sick or others who have died. Thedeceased brother was the one doing these readings - and after the reading, he is still at the ambo (pulpit) and says - "And I would like to take a minute to talk about....."
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I look at my organist - Beth is mouthing .. "oh no oh no" We had no idea this was going to happen - but it was short and really harmless. I was thinking to myself - what is going to happen next?
He got off of the altar and the rest of the service went on as planned - I did notice that some of the responses I did sing a bit faster than normal - but it was all good.
If I can leave you with any advice - if you are going to have a eulogy, keep it short - save the long one for possibly a reception after the funeral - everyone will be a little more relaxed and more receptive to what you are saying..huh..maybe I should teach a eulogy class..
Peace out kiddies...
M
But in the end, the son finishes and I see the look of relief on the priest's face. I mean let's look at from the the side of the mourning. One can understand that when they have just lost someone so dear to them, of course it is hard to see them go. They feel that this is the time to talk about what a wonderful life that this person had lived. But on the other hand, the way to keep the deceased alive is to tell stories, and keep telling them. This is the way to keep the memories alive and by doing that, they keep them alive in their hearts.
So now we are at another part of the service where there are many readings of those who are sick or others who have died. Thedeceased brother was the one doing these readings - and after the reading, he is still at the ambo (pulpit) and says - "And I would like to take a minute to talk about....."
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I look at my organist - Beth is mouthing .. "oh no oh no" We had no idea this was going to happen - but it was short and really harmless. I was thinking to myself - what is going to happen next?
He got off of the altar and the rest of the service went on as planned - I did notice that some of the responses I did sing a bit faster than normal - but it was all good.
If I can leave you with any advice - if you are going to have a eulogy, keep it short - save the long one for possibly a reception after the funeral - everyone will be a little more relaxed and more receptive to what you are saying..huh..maybe I should teach a eulogy class..
Peace out kiddies...
M
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