Lessons from the Pastoral Visit and the Mortuary

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, ..." (Ecclesiastes 3: 1-2).

My brother shared this amusing picture with me of the hearse towing a U-Haul trailer. I laughed, not so much because of all the potential captions and stories that the image conjures up, but because it took me back about twenty years in time when I had some of my most memorable “ministry” experiences.

Already well into my thirties, I felt the call for some more education which included some undergraduate studies as well as a theology degree from a local seminary. While I studied a full-time course load, I also worked full-time night shift and juggled family responsibilities of being a husband and father. Apparently I still wasn’t busy enough, and so I also volunteered at a small local church as an Associate Pastor with primary responsibilities being the visitation of seniors and elderly, including several shut in’s. Despite the hectic schedule, I loved those four years.

Now, you may be asking yourself, “What’s that got to do with a hearse towing a U-Haul trailer?” Good question.

There was one dear elderly lady that I used to visit regularly who couldn’t get out much. As I recall, one of her favourite topics of discussion was how people, Christians included, seemed to be trapped in a materialistic mindset. She would often say, seemingly unaware that she told me the same story a hundred times before (sound familiar? –LOL), “You know, Reverend Roach, I ain’t never seen no hearse pulling no U-Haul.” I would, of course, respectfully acknowledge her statement, while deep inside be amused at how she would always get my name wrong, and still insist on calling me a Reverend. I never did have the heart to tell her that, though on more than one occasion I had been offered ordination in the church, I always declined. But that’s story for another time.

But her point was taken; perhaps we do tend to cling to material possessions and wealth a little tighter than we ought. And now, some twenty years later as my wife and I begin to discuss the possibility of downsizing and as we prepare for, Lord willing, semi-retirement, the picture of the hearse towing the U-Haul trailer and the memory of that dear lady, reminds us that we will not be leaving this world with fists clenched tightly around our possessions, but rather with hands held wide open, leaving this world just as we entered it; empty handed.

A few years later we moved away to answer the call to serve another church in another community. While I haven't heard to the contrary, I'm sure that based upon her age at the time, that dear lady has long since had her ride in a hearse. And I'm also certain, there was no U-Haul attached to it at the time. 

It is interesting how, the older I get, the more faces and names I recognize in the obituary columns. Many are even younger than I am now. I don’t say this to be morbid, for as Paul said, “to be away from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Personally, I look forward to that day; don’t you?

So I just want to take a moment and thank my brother for sharing that picture and for reminding me of what’s really important in life as I too begin the process of loosening my grip on some stuff.

“I ain’t never seen no hearse pulling no U-Haul,” said that dear old saint on my visitation schedule. And if you ever do see one, don’t for a second think the deceased has figured out some way of taking their stuff with them to the other side. It just isn’t so, and it begs the question of how we ought to use our “stuff” this side of the mortuary. Something to think about. Peace.

Photo Source: Unknown