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"The Last Laugh”
Through the years, lots of my best friends have been funeral directors. This is understandable since I've been the minister of some very large congregations and have conducted hundreds and hundreds of funerals. I've spent a great deal of time with funeral directors. This has enabled me to discover something generally unknown to the ordinary citizen. Funeral directors tend to have fine senses of humor. Now, they all maintain a proper sense of dignity and decorum out of a respect for their vocation. But get them off the job and they can be a lot of fun.
I was reminded of this while talking with Whit Whitley over in Kannapolis, NC. Whit runs an exceptionally fine funeral home there. In his free time he is a standup comedian, actor, and singer. He's dead serious about his comedy. He doesn't use off-color material in his act--just funny stuff. Whit is naturally humorous. Funny just seems to happen to him. He used to be a member at Trinity Methodist Church in Kannapolis. One Sunday he arrived at church and noticed that folk were reacting a bit oddly when they saw him. They seemed amused at his presence. So he remarked about it to an usher. The usher asked, "Have you not read the church bulletin yet this morning?"
Whit said he had not. He picked up a bulletin and began to read. Finally he came to his own name in the bulletin. There was a slight problem. The church secretary had made a typographical error--twice. Instead of hitting the "W" key for Whit Whitley, she hit the nearby "S" key. Whit still loves to laugh about it. Of course, he has now become a Lutheran! I'm not sure what that former church secretary is doing now!
One of my best pals was the late Jim Whittington of Charlotte. He was a great civic leader, one of the pioneers of Little League Baseball, and a fine funeral home director. When-ever I saw him, he would check my pulse and tell me how "natural" I looked. Folk used to assess the quality of a funeral director on how "natural" the deceased appeared while in repose. When I dropped notes to Jim, I always signed them: "Eventually Yours."
I once had a parishioner who had lived to a great age and was near death. She assured me that she was ready to die. She said, "I'm ready to meet God. And I look forward to meeting my husband again in Heaven." Well, I knew she had been married at least 3 times. So I asked with a smile, "Which one?" Her eyes twinkled as she replied, "All 5 of them!" Then she told me that old ditty: "A woman married a banker and he died. Then she married an actor and he died. Then she married a minister and he died. Finally she married an undertaker and he died. One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready and four to go!"
Making plans for one's own funeral is an important gift to one's family. It takes lots of pressure off them when that time comes. My friend Betty Simpson over in Salisbury told me she wants "Open My Eyes That I May See" sung at her funeral. I love her whimsy.
Funeral directors have my great admiration. I watch them do their work with compassion and skill to bring consolation to grieving families and I am grateful for them. I have come to regard them as true ministers of compassion. I can understand why they tend to keep their senses of humor somewhat out of sight. But I am able to take another approach to death. I often say, that we people of faith are the only people in the world who can laugh in the face of death itself. We are the ones who get the last laugh and the last hoorah! Hallelujah!
So I say to Whit Whitley, "More laughs to you, friend! Knock us out with your humor! It's the spiritual thing to do!
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