On Monday at John’s funeral… Six of his friends entered carrying John’s coffin. There were a few tears. ‘The Bare Necessities’ from The Jungle Book – one of John’s favourites – started playing. Everyone smiled.
Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife…
Many aspire to such a simple, joyful life. John certainly did. However, John’s character and life experiences were much more complex. As his friend Karen said, ‘Stubborn, annoying sh*t that you could be, the kindest most generous man as well…’
When I was teaching… I worked with two excellent history teachers. When teaching about the English Civil War, rather than teaching a list of dates and battles to be learnt as answers to quiz questions, they’d ask, ‘Was Oliver Cromwell a good man?’
They’d present historical documents… Cromwell’s recorded speeches, his religious beliefs, his vision for England, the way he treated people, his views on war… Understanding something of the complexity of the man and life in seventeenth century England the children formed opinions.
Yesterday, reading ‘Forever in the Sunshine’… Gary Morecambe, writing about his father, the comedian Eric Morcambe, quotes his sister, Gail:
‘Mum (Jean – Eric’s wife) would describe him (Eric) as a mass of contradictions. For all the activity and joking, there was also a remarkable stillness about him at times. He came across as both ridiculously frivolous and ridiculously grounded.’
Remembering… St Paul’s words: ‘I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.’ He’s a mass of contradictions!
Bible scholars will know that Paul resolves his questions in the next chapter, but this morning I’m musing on the ‘mass of contradictions’ that I see in those I meet, my friends, and in myself. I’m praying that I shall be more understanding, more accepting, more forgiving… with others… with me.
malcolmsmusings.org 
My sympathy for your loss, Malcolm
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Thanks, Scott. John’s life affected many. His memories and influence are a remaining significant positive.
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At funerals, it’s customary to express all the positive aspects of the deceased while omitting the negative ones. It appears that the family and friends attending John’s service chose to remember him fondly, despite his flaws. Malcolm, your post brought back memories of my father, a high school headmaster who guided many young people in the right direction. However, he was also a man of contradictions—a functioning alcoholic for the last 30 years of his life. Thank you for reminding us that we all struggle with being human; only God is divine, and that’s why we should worship Him and Him alone.
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John upset many of us at some time or other. To depict him as perfect wouldn’t have been a true picture of the man. Of course that doesn’t change all of the good he was and did, David. Thanks for sharing about your Dad; it sounds like another example of an imperfect man who nonetheless had a positive affect on many.
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