A THOUGHT-PROVOKING FUNERAL

We recently lost one of our Christian Brother and his funeral was slated to take place today in Agenebode (one of the villages in Edo state, Nigeria). I have never been to the place before but we were told it was a 5hours journey. Since the journey was a bit far, the church decided to send delegates to represent the Church over there, and these delegates were expected to leave a day before the funeral, so as not to get stranded on the road.

It happened that I was one of the delegates sent since I'm one of the officiating ministers (songs). I had this feeling of not going but I pushed it off since it wouldn't be nice to disappoint the church. Secondly, the late brother worth all my sacrifice because during his time on earth, he equally made greater sacrifices for those around him and beyond. I bet you'd agree with me that I made the right decision going for his burial. Or did I not?

_{My tired face}
You might be wondering why I asked if I did make the right decision. To be honest, I really don't know how to explain this. Should I talk about the part where we spent 8hours on the road instead of the supposed 5hours? Or the part where I couldn't sleep throughout because there were no proper arrangements for accommodation? Or the part where someone opened my bag to take my power bank?😭😭 Or the part where the villagers asked us to conduct the funeral within an hour and leave except we want to encounter problems? Or the part where something was dropped inside his grave after he was lowered to mother earth? I really can't start narrating everything that happened. I believe the few I mentioned are enough to let you decide if I made the right decision to attend the burial or not.

I wrote about these things briefly because they are not the actual reason I'm writing this post. I actually decided to write about this on my blog because of the things that were said about the man during the sermon and the tributes. All the tributes were of good report as people were seen testifying of how sacrificial our late Christian brother was when he was still alive.

He was a medical doctor by profession. He established hospitals with lots of medical doctors on call in Delta and Edo state, Nigeria. He was doing so well not untill some years back when a certain sickness struck him and rendered him handicapped since he could no longer perform any task without the help of someone. I was one of those who took to his physiotherapy sessions every Monday but unfortunately that couldn't be of help to him.

Like I said earlier, many good things were said about him. Was it the aspect of his generosity? Or the aspect of his service to the Lord? Or the aspect of his free humanitarian services? Or the aspect of him giving out the best of treatment to his patients? I really can't start listing all that was said about him because they are so enormous. Someone even said it was because of him that his wife is still alive today. Another said it was because of him, he could walk again. If this is not enough to tell you how good this man is, I don't know what else can.

All these words pricked my heart and I immediately asked myself if people would say such kind words about me when I am no more. I'm posing this question before us today as a food for thought. Let's ask ourselves what would people say about us when we are gone. Better still, let me rephrase the question;

What would you be remembered for when you leave this world?

The man that died would be remembered for so many things. If people could say such kind words about him, don't you think they would always remember him for who he was? This is a wake up call to each of us to do good always. It's good to be good and bad to be bad. Let our legacy on earth after we are no more not be of bad report. Seek to touch the lives of people around you and beyond everyday of your life. May God help us all as we so this.

Till we meet to part no more, rest on Dr. Godwin Nuae Imoebe.

Thanks for visiting my blog.