I always think funerals bring out the best and worst of people. The best is the desire to live a better life, as a mourner becomes aware of the brevity of life, and may hear from God an urgent call to " shower the people you love with love" ( words of a James Taylor song) while they are alive!
Bringing out the worst, happened recently to me when the deceased's Next of Kin hadn't seen his/her relative for thirty years. And the information about his loved one, to be read as their tribute, had been written by the ailing person themselves, who sadly had alzheimer's disease. As a consequence, after the service, an unknown man came up to me and said " hen, ye did a good service, but what you said about Y was utter nonsense!" Apparently there were a number of proverbial "skeletons in the family cupboard," and another version of where the deceased grew up, not on a Wigtownshire farm as I had been told.
Also there was no "purvey" afterwards. ( For any English readers, a "purvey" is the time for refreshment after a funeral service usually held in a home or hotel, where folks can further reminisce about their late relative/friend/colleague. ) This may have been a sign of a family rift, or lack of funds, or both.
So there you go....
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