First Funeral

Shields Moore is a Chaplain at the Tampa Airport. Every Monday he sends out a compilation of his "Chaplain's Notes" where he shares a verse of Scripture and a joke or story for each day of the week. Something like what I do, only he does it all on one day.

He's also an expert on all things chaplain-y.

Shields tells us that there are *many* different types of chaplains. You can find a chaplain working with pet owners, in airports, on campuses, in correctional facilities, hospitals, fire departments, and other emergency rescue organizations. You'll find chaplains in both Houses of Congress, the military, and police forces. Many workplaces even employ chaplains, in an effort to keep employee stress low and reduce absenteeism.

Fair enough, but did you also know that chaplains serve as emotional counselors and spiritual guides at the race track, in recreational vehicle parks, at seaports, in shopping malls and truck stops, at ski lodges, and in motorcycle gangs? One organization was even taking the step of sending chaplains into local bars for the patrons there.

While I can't imagine what they must do in such places, I can imagine the need is very, very great.

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My father was extremely nervous about his first funeral service as a Navy chaplain, but the undertaker assured him that he would stand by his side during the brief ceremony and quietly prompt him through it.

All went well until the end of the service. The undertaker whispered to my father that he should ask the family to come up and view the body.

"Will the family now come forward," my father said, "and pass around the bier."

As soon as he said it, he cringed, knowing the misunderstandings that would follow.

Later, as he was leaving, he overheard two of the guests talking. "I didn't get any beer," said one. "Did you?"

"You heard the chaplain," came the reply. "It was just for the family."

[as told in Joe's Clean Laffs]

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WORDS for YOUR WEEK: "Our Father in Heaven, give us the long view of our work and our world. Help us to see that it is better to fail in a cause that will ultimately succeed than to succeed in a cause that will ultimately fail." (from a prayer by U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall, circa 1949)

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