by William David

Created on: June 28, 2009   Last Updated: July 06, 2009

I have always enjoyed reading the obituaries.

I am certainly not a morbid person but I have always been interested in people's lives and what paths they took in life. In the obituary we find highlights of the person's life and what things they did. We usually learn of surviving family members and learn of those who have passed on before. We also deduce quickly whether the person was in a relationship or not.

There is no real detail about the mistakes that were made in the person's life nor the challenges they were faced with in their career choice. We also don't see how much practice it took to be skilled at a task that was taken on or a talent pursued.

They may have been hard working or lazy. They may have been portrayed as a good father but in reality maybe they were not there much to be a good father. Perhaps they were gifted or maybe just a daydreamer. We can all learn from the "real" person and not from the painted angelic picture. Of course, nobody is going to print the bad things, and as well they shouldn't. Respect for those who have died is the right thing to do. So much can be learned from the real person.

As a missionary in the Philippine Islands at the age of 19, I suddenly learned about death more than just the funeral I went to for my great grandmother as a young boy. In fact, one of the first funerals I went to I had to prepare and conduct for a poor family that lived in a wood home with a dirt floor. No bigger than about a few hundred square feet in this home where the husband and son of a sweet family faced the horrible reality of losing someone they loved and honoring his memory.

This man who worked as a security officer for a political figure and was shot in the back of the head by underground militants. His face half gone from the accident and with no morgue or funeral home to prepare the body. The man was placed in a homemade casket. Cotton was placed into the open portion where his mouth and nose once were. Nice things were spoken about this man who was not much older than I was. After listenening to a very short eulogy, I found myself wishing I could have really known who he was. Yet because of his efforts to support his family he was not around much. Quite a noble trait for a man who could have just sat around doing nothing.

In this culture, the process that led to the funeral is much different than the culture I was used to. The bodies of loved ones were usually kept around for many days in the home where visitors would pay respects

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