Last week I found myself saying goodbye to good friends who
died and entered heaven. I was at funeral homes and churches for four days in a
row: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I gathered with people I have
known for many years and some since I was a freshman in high school. Friends
who had been at our wedding and I had been at their wedding over fifty years
ago. It was four days of reconnecting and remembering. What was so special was
the memory of the lives of these two friends who died. Both were such kind,
gentle and loving men. To remember them is like remembering treasured friends
who poured kindness and gentleness into the world. To have friends like these
two wonderful guys has been such a blessing. What a privilege to remember the
lives of these two caring and compassionate guys. One is a Capuchin priest. The
other is a WWII navy veteran. Both had a very positive influence on my life.
As I drive past funeral homes now, I realize the purpose of these homes of gathering relatives and friends to remember the lives of those who have died. When people gather at a funeral home or a Church to remember someone who has died, something very profound and consoling happens: THE PRESENCE OF LOVE AND THE PRESENCE OF GOD. Every gathering like this becomes a profound and loving focus of love and gratitude. Tears flow freely by many people. These tears help everyone appreciate the love and goodness of the deceased person.
These loving gatherings of relatives and friends teach everyone what the purpose of life is all about: to experience LOVE and to experience GOD. As I was sitting at the luncheons with people, I have known for so many years, our sharing of remembrance of the deceased person became so meaningful and personal. I felt such gratitude for having such close friends over so many decades. I then began to think: which one of us will we be celebrating the next funeral. And then I gratefully breathed a quiet prayer. We are all on this journey together. It is important to treasure friends and to walk with each other into the esteemed journey before us. When we are walking with each other into God, we start feeling a profonde appreciating of God and a comforting realization of what life is all about.
Funerals and funeral visitations always seem to shout to me about the purpose of love and life. These two ways of celebrating a person’s presence in this world are very consoling. Life is so very short, but God’s Love and Peace are forever.
Each moment of life is meant to bring each person closer to God, closer to others and closer to ourselves. When I realize and stop rushing through life, I will have many Divine, Loving Experiences.
Life is always meant to be a DIVINE EXPERIENCE in everything and in everyone. It is so important to slow down and pay attention. Life is often a consistent saying Goodbye to family and friends. But this saying GOODBYE becomes a profound saying HELLO to God. Our minds and hearts become more open to the Sacred and Loving Presence of God. Life is a sacred Journey into the Divine.
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Fred Cavaiani is a licensed marriage & family therapist
and limited licensed psychologist with a private practice in Troy. He is the
founder of Marriage Growth Center. He conducts numerous programs for groups
throughout Michigan. Cavaiani is associate editor and contributing writer for
Human Development Magazine. His column in the Legal News runs every other
Tuesday. He can be reached at 248-362-3340. His e-mail address is:
Fredcavi@yahoo.com and his website is FredsCounselorsCorner.com.
