I have said many times that I have lots of funeral stores and I’ve told many of them around a lunch table. For some reason, the stories that are entertaining are never about weddings – those are planned for weeks and for rehearsed. Not so for funerals.

Over the years I have done many a funerals. Some of them were tragic like the death of 9 year old Marty and others expected and celebratory as the loved one was elderly and had lived a very good life.

My very first funeral was a man in his 80’s who had a fireplace in his living room. He started a fire with the flue shut and in trying to clear it died of smoke inhalation. When the funeral home called to say that the family wanted someone from The Salvation Army to do the funeral I was really nervous. It’s not easy to do a funeral for someone you never knew or had any connection with.

I had been reading Isaiah and I was thinking about the death of Uzziah – a friend of the prophet Isaiah and an unexpected death – Isaiah 6 begins…in the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord high and lifted up….so I thought that I might talk about this.

What I didn’t think about in my anxious state was what Isaiah goes on to say…. (remember how this man died)….

On the day of the funeral I decided to read Isaiah 6 which seemed like a good idea until I came across this phrase…”and smoke filled the Temple”.

I suddenly realized what I was reading and I began to wonder if I should stop but it was too late…