Funeral Eulogy – Remembering the Deceased

A funeral eulogy can be a pleasant turn of events in the somber and sorrow filled environment of a funeral The eulogy is the time to speak. Someone from the family, a close friend, or in some cases if the family members are too distraught, the pastor is called upon to remember the departed. It is a time when a personal voice can be injected into the litany of religious and spiritual doctrine which is sometime wrought with his or her place in the after life or the passing of a sacred life and heaven on earth. Eulogies can lift one out of this mire and into the focus of the funeral; commemorating the one who has past.

In preparing a eulogy it is best to think of things in terms of a lighter note. Invariably this brings up some form of comedy. This should not be the bachelor party or wedding ceremony type of comedy but instead a distilled dose of humor in which all members can collectively remember something humorous about the departed.

It is also a time to touch on achievements. Many obituaries do this and obituaries themselves can be a jumping off point for eulogies. Obituaries cover facts; where the person was born, what they did with their life, where they went to school, how many children they had and what they eventually died of. Eulogies can start here but if we were to compare the two we could say obituaries are factual whereas eulogies are personal. Achievements many times fall under the facts category. But achievements many times are where one can find the humor in life. It is especially delightful to up end the story of a successful naval officer with the time he was so worried about his kid’s baseball game back home that he overslept the port call and missed all of Rome although he’d been talking about it for six months! Or the athlete who missed a game because he’d so excited about driving to the game he ended up in another state!

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Many time it is in achievements where the comedy in life is found. Eulogies are meant to express some of those moments so the members in attendance can share a laugh which invariably eases the pain of passing.

Many times, images are shown as a form of eulogy or in other types of informal ceremonies the entire ceremony itself might become one big eulogy with music played in remembrance of the passing, a video slide show projected displaying images of his or her life from cradle to the grave. Especially nowadays with all the advances in technology, a video slideshow might become the standard for eulogies in the years to come. With Facebook, Flickr and iPhoto, just to name a few, images are easily available and most, by the time their life has ended may in fact have many to choose from.

So eulogies themselves whether they be spoken, shown, or played are inherent in the fact that they are there to express the collected wish of all in attendance. And are meant to celebrate and commemorate the departed as well as ease the pain of those in attendance.