In the Midst of Sadness

I told Angie, Comer's daughter, I could videotape his wife Evelyn's memorial service, since he was unable to leave his bed to attend. That way, he could still watch the service. She liked that idea, though I warned her, all I had was a camera, and I was not certain the battery would hold out.

There was no official announcement that I was videotaping NOT because I was an unbelievably insensitive oaf, but because I was doing so at the daughter's behest for the husband who was too ill to attend his wife's funeral. Thus, in this unspeakably sad and somber occasion, I tried to find a subtle way to videotape the whole thing. Nonetheless, I felt very conspicuous, and knew many people behind me were shooting daggers with their eyes.

I have the world's best friends. One offered to drive me and the other neighbors to the service. Another walked with me to the ideal videotaping seat, not afraid to sit with the pariah upon whom the crowd looked with disdain as I pulled out my camera during the piano overture. In fact, Kristen even made the clever suggestion to place the camera under the aisle seat in front of me, and shift the focus upward at the lectern where presumably most of the action would be occurring. We had not considered the unfortunate angle that shot might have at ladies passing by in skirts, but clever editing later could always be done...if I could find a clever editor.

It would have been a devastatingly sad service, complete with a moving poem written by Comer, except that Kristen and I were often distracted by the need to make compelling video. I only broke down a bit during the poem, which Comer's grandson read. I had compiled over a hundred of Comer's poems, and was in the process of publishing them. The proof had arrived only a week before, and now, her grandson held the proof and read one of the poems Comer had written about the day he knew would come when he would have to say goodbye to his wife. The other teary moment was when the pastor read the 23rd psalm, saying it was Evelyn's favorite psalm. I hadn't known that, but wondered if that was why Comer squeezed my hand so hard when I told him the day before I wanted to recite to him my favorite psalm...the 23rd psalm.

After the service, I tried mightily for an hour to try to download and find a way to send the video to Angie. Finally, at wit's end, I emailed Brian, one of the world's smartest and most compassionate computer gurus, and lucky for me, a good friend. He told me to bring the camera SD card to him, and he would make a CD of the video. As a bonus, while Brian worked on the CD, I got to visit with his wife, Melissa, another one of my all time favorite people. Brian emerged from his home office not only with a CD, but with a CD that had a lovely and elegant plastic case with the title professionally typed on the label, and on the video itself, he had added the title and date.

I brought the CD immediately to Angie's house and hung it on her door so she could bring it to Comer in the morning. And I thought that though the day had indeed had moments of excruciating sadness, it had also been filled with the love and prayers of many family members and dear, considerate friends.
I learned some very important lessons, only one of which was I should not consider a career in video-photography.

God's people are never alone. They, of course, always have God, but the community of believers displays its most beautiful face in the midst of sadness and struggle. Honestly, I don't know how I would get through death of loved ones without God, or without the support of His people.

2 Corinthians 13:11 (NIV)
Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

-save a dog- hollowcreekfarm.org