I have recently been doing a lot of funerals. I am a vicar, this is what we do. Each time I do a funeral I am aware that this is something poignant; a life has come to an end and there is usually grief associated with that. Sometimes it is possible to draw comfort from the fact that the deceased had lived a long life, or perhaps that death had released them from suffering. Sadly, that is not always the case. This coming Sunday is Passion Sunday, when the Church remembers the suffering and death of Jesus. This occasion can be mawkish or sentimental, although crucifixion was only ever brutal. It does not explain away grief and suffering. It does however, give me the strength to stand at a graveside and speak of God. I follow a God who has known suffering; I can only worship a God who has known suffering.
Rev David Poyner