Eulogy for the Living

 Moving eulogies in the film The Fault in our Stars implicitly ask the question, why do we wait until people are gone to talk about how much they mean to us?

We have a practice in the People of Praise* of honoring people at their birthday celebration. Honoring people is not for the purpose of puffing them up or stroking their ego. It is a Holy Spirit-inspired means to encourage people in their faith-walk. God takes note of acts of faith and obedience, and sometimes those around them do, too. With all the trash talk in the world, why be silent on the fruit of redemption in peoples’ lives until it is time to mourn their passing? What better legacy can we leave the next generation than recognizing the value of serving God?

The great challenge in this is to avoid pitfalls such as:

·        Sounding holier-than-thou, putting on airs that we and the people we hang out with are better, Godlier than others. Sanctimonious self-righteousness is neither attractive nor something we want to encourage in others.

·        Conveying the idea that we can earn salvation, God’s blessing, or His approval, through acts of service to Him.

·        Causing those we honor to have an unhealthy response in their lives and hearts; we have to recognize that it is God’s redemptive work, His power in their lives, that we are recognizing.

Eulogies are literally good words. Those we know and love mean much to us, by enriching our lives in so many ways. Can we at least once per year verbalize our feelings and the reasons for them, to give voice to all that has eternal value?

______________

*The People of Praise is a Christian, Ecumenical, Charismatic fellowship with branches in a variegated assortment of locations.