📌Leadership:

Small Funerals

Funerals are where people gather to honor a life that has ended. Sometimes it’s for a loved one, sometimes a friend, sometimes a figure deeply important to a community. We gather, tell stories, shed tears, share meals, and then cry some more. We lean on each other to get through the painful moments.

But I’ve been thinking—there’s another side of funerals we might need to grasp.

If I’m honest, I suspect very few people would come to mine. What? Only a few? That thought might make someone ask, What have you been doing with your life?

The truth is, most of my life happens behind the scenes. I’m a quiet person, and much of my interaction is online. There are many people like me—people whose influence stretches far beyond their local setting. But would our funerals reflect the things we actually poured our lives into?

My everyday job reminds me of the tax collectors and soldiers who asked John the Baptist what they should do (Luke 3:13–14). John told them to act with honesty, integrity, and contentment. My work as a rental property manager is similar. I collect rent, maintain property, and enforce rules. I’m not usually the person people want to see. At best, I’m “okay” in their eyes, but let’s be honest—most tenants just want to pay and move on. If their yard is messy, I’m the one knocking on the door. That kind of authority doesn’t exactly create a line of friends ready to throw me a sweet farewell party. More likely, some might feel like singing “Ding Dong, the Witch Is Dead.” (Wizard of Oz, anyone?)

Sometimes, I’ve wished I could be the one baking cookies for neighbors, making children laugh, and winning easy affection. But I had to make a choice: do the job the Lord placed me in, or chase a life that would make me popular?

Some roles require holding the line, even when it’s not appreciated. These jobs are often called thankless, and on this side of heaven, they usually are. But I believe they are not thankless on the other side.

When one of God’s children finishes their earthly assignment, heaven doesn’t echo with the sound of a small funeral. It rings with the joy of a homecoming. Family and loved ones in Christ line up to welcome them. The joy of entering heaven can’t be captured by human words. All I know is this: while earth holds funerals, heaven celebrates arrivals.

Sj

ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ
✿⊰ B e l i e v e ⊰✿
ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ