The Corpse at Every Funeral…

It was Alice Roosevelt Longworth, who in speaking of her father, Teddy, said he wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding and the baby at every christening. I first heard this from my friend Thomas Lane Butts, a remarkable United Methodist pastor from Monroeville, Alabama.  Yes, that Monroeville! In fact, over the decades Tom would have breakfast every week, at Hardees fast food restaurant, with Harper Lee.  Yes, that Harper Lee!

It took a while to discover that Tom, who would often speak of “a bride at every wedding and corpse at every funeral,” had borrowed and reshaped the quote to his purpose. I remember Tom’s sonorous southern cadence as he would identify some attention-starved politician, bishop, power hungry legislator, university administrator or professor, or pompous preacher or rabbi, as one who fit the category.

My prayers in recent months often have been that a narcissism-neutralizer could be invented. It could be marketed as a humility-pepper-spray and deodorize any power-hungry-stench. I have prayed that an election, a court verdict, a news editorial, an honest phone call from a friend, a speeding ticket, a failed speech, or a glance in some other “reality mirror” might burst all pomposity balloons. I’ve looked in a few such mirrors myself over the years. I recall the Sunday I thought I had preached a fine sermon, and a woman took my hand at the door and said, “Every sermon you preach is better than the next.”  Great timing – a glance in the reality mirror.  I was remembering the true meaning and joy of worship.

My dream of some ego-adjusting-comeuppance is likely not to happen… probably can’t happen given all that is at play in our day.  Our national-body-politic, gerrymandered-legislatures, embattled-universities, overly-cautious-conflicted-churches, profit-only-driven-corporations, or ideologically-ensconced-media-enterprises are in their own protective enclosures. 

In the meantime, sadly, attention is taken from those who genuinely deserve our honor, memorials, respect and shared joy.  Here is an invitation to you to join in remembering and celebrating those who have died, those getting married and all those we name as children of God.