Today’s funeral was unlike any other. The family requests stretched the service to almost 1 1/2 hours. The graveside lasted for an extended period.
In most cases we would say this was extreme. One might even say that the time frame was too long.
If anything, this brought a new appreciation to my mind. You see, the family sought to be a family. They moved into action to comfort one another – time was not the most important thing – people were.
And so, although I believe in order and good time frames in funerals, I saw today the place of people and relationships in play. Perhaps the combination of structure and freedom needs more exploration!