Vacation Days

Earlier this week, the vacationing rector of a parish in the diocese received a phone call from the parish office. They had received a call from an area funeral director about scheduling a funeral for a quite elderly woman who had not darkened the door of the church in years. She and her husband—who was hospitalized, recovering from pneumonia—had been married in that church, and he had particularly requested that the funeral be held there on Friday.

Friday was apparently important. Saturday would not do. Not wanting to shorten a planned vacation, the rector arranged for a deacon to officiate.

Two days later, the husband, still hospitalized, took a sudden turn for the worse. He died the next morning. He and his wife had been married just over seventy years.

Early Friday morning, the rector drove back to the church, where the family gathered for a rare double funeral. Commenting on the situation, the rector said, “It was the only thing to do.”

God works in mysterious ways, and he cares for all the sheep, no matter how often they talk with him. We should, too.