Today we went to the burial and funeral services for a 97-year old patriarch of our Menno congregation. It's hard to even imagine what it must be like to live to that age -- and with your mental facilities intact besides. (The pastor commented about his joking with the staff at the hospital during his last days...)
It was pretty awesome to see the pews full of his family: brothers, children, grand-children and great grand-children. When you think about what he had actually seen during his lifetime, going from a horse and buggy era to one of civilian space travel. Two World Wars ( and numerous "conflicts"); the Great Depression, the farm transition to tractors from horses. One of his neighbors commented about farming across the road from each other on tractors without cabs or air-conditioning. (I can remember my Grandfather Haight coming into the house after a day out on the tractor like that, covered with dust and with the only clean place on his body the circles around his eyes where his goggles had been.)
The music today was awe-inspiring. One of the grandsons, a music teacher, is incredibly talented on the saxophone. He played a selection of hymns for fifteen minutes at the beginning of the service that had many people teary-eyed. A men's quartet sang "God is Our Refuge and Strength." The congregation sang "Shall We Gather at the River" accompanied by the saxophone and closed the service with the Mennonite National Anthem, "Praise God From Whom" sung without accompaniment. The heritage of singing being one of the only "acceptable recreation" activities definitely showed in the beautiful unrehearsed four-part congregational singing.
It was good to have a chance after the service to visit with many people we don't often see. We have been delayed in our departure for places south while waiting for the hitch, but because of it, we were able to attend the services today. A blessing indeed!
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