Funerals

I am taking a funeral on Monday - the first in over 8 months. This is remarkable given that I minister to an ageing church where most members are over 65, and a significantly large minority are over 80!

Elva is a dear Christian sister. All the time I've been at Jamberoo she has been a shut-in.

But I grew to love her. She has a great sense of fun. I had scheduled a hospital visit for her one time and arrived in the ward dressed fairly casually, as is my habit. I wore jeans rather than shorts for a change, but otherwise was very casual.

But all the ladies in the ward were done up to the 9s, because Elva had told them the minister was coming. Such was the build up that the ladies had insisted on their best nighties and the nurses had had to put make up on the ladies! We all had a good laugh. One of the nurses thought the archbishop must've been coming, such was the preparation.

Another time Elva was snoozing on her front verandah, and I just went and snoozed next to her until she woke up. He had a good belly laugh when that happened.

But now Elva is with the Lord Jesus. A great Christian lady, with whom we will be reunited at the resurrection.

She is a Jamberoo girl through and through - from one of the old families in town - a generation that will pass within 20 years and break the historical links with the beginning of white history in our beautiful village and valley.