Fred Cavaiani
This past 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 more than 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 is for 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 remembrances 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 profound appreciation 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.
This past 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 more than 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 is for 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 remembrances 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 profound appreciation 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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