Distinguishing Life from Death

Distinguishing Life from Death
LEVITICUS : 13 1- 14: 57

The first funeral I did in the United States was for a friend in his thirties whose wedding I had conducted. We buried him within about a year, after he died of a brain tumor. I admire the way U.S. funerals commonly have the dead person present in the coffin with its lid open, which is rarer in Britain. At the end of this service everyone in the congregation filed past the coffin saying their last goodbyes. I stood watching the variety of expressions on people’s faces and talked to some of them about this afterward. Death is a scary business. We are not sure we want to get too close to it. I buy my clothes from the thrift store, which means I am often wearing dead men’s clothes, but I don’t think about that too much...