Funerals are hard.  Saying good bye is hard.  Facing memories of those we love who we can no longer see is hard.  Seeing a lifeless body where so much joy and spirit used to be is painful.  Being confronted with our own mortality can be crushing. 

It can be hard and painful and crushing when we focus on just this world.  A life in this world has ended.  BUT we were not made just for this world.  We were made for so much more.  The book of Wisdom tells us:

The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.

They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction.

But they are in peace.

Wisdom 3:1-3

We on earth can forget and view them as dead.  We can feel the utter destruction of their passing, but when we turn to God, when we remember His promises, when we have the faith and Hope in Him, we know…  our dearly departed is in peace.  Not at peace… in peace.  Because they still are. 

Our life on earth is temporary.  It may be the only thing we know for certain and the only thing we can all agree on. The torment, the affliction, the destruction is temporary.  The peace of God is forever, for the just, for those who put their trust in God, for those who turn to God, for those who keep God central in their life, despite the torment, affliction and destruction around them.  Everything around us is temporary… except God, except the love of God, a love that we can share with others.

Lord,

I long to live in your peace.  I hand over my pain, my struggles, my torment and afflictions.  You sent your Son to rescue us, to defeat death and to bring us to everlasting peace.  I trust in you. Help me to do your will in this life.  Help me to bring your peace to others.