Permit me to be morbid
Just another time,
I need to share something
That is stamped on my mind.
I’ve been attending funerals
More than a few,
These were mostly persons
That I really knew.
In a few cases
Some were relatives of friends
But there were so many
I thought they wouldn’t end.
I have had a break
For the last three weeks
But concerning so many funerals
I trust there’s no repeat.
Sometimes three in one day
I just had to be there
To pay my respect,
I want to make that clear.
One day if Jesus should tarry
You will attend mine
But I will not be in attendance
Not at that time.
I have the Bible’s backing
It is found in God’s Word:
To be absent from the body
And to be present with the Lord.
And while I do not understand
All that this means,
When you come to my funeral
Do not expect me at the scene.
I would have long vacated
My temporary tent
That facilitated the time
That on this earth I spent.
This bivouac you see
And in which I now reside
One day will be buried
But not with me inside.
The real Stewart Russell
Would have been whisked away
To await his resurrection
On a divinely appointed day.
So if I go before you do
And that is very possible,
Remember that I told you
I will not be at my funeral.
If you believe God’s Word
You’d appreciate my stance,
Mine is a biblical reality
I am not in a trance.
Turn with me now
To 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 8
To be absent from the body
And to be present with the Lord.
The apostle Paul was confident
And so am I,
The born again believer
Will live again though he dies.
I will not be in attendance
I hope you can now see,
The real me would have left,
They will inter my body.
Stewart Russell © November 2018
