Thank You Very Sweet

Yesterday I went to a Copeland funeral. My line sister in Delta Sigma Theta is married to a Copeland. These are the Copeland’s of Trenton, I am a Copeland from Ohio, we cant prove a familial tie but one can never be sure about those things.

What was amazing about this funeral is that it brought me back to the place where Kesner’s funeral was held, almost three years later – to the day. Readers may remember the myriad of feelings that I experienced at Kesner’s funeral, I expressed them so very clearly in my prior note – “Homegoing.” The bottom line is that I was angry.

But I realize that something in me has changed.

My friend Andrea said that holding onto resentment is like drinking poison and expecting someone else to die. I think she got that from someone on facebook who got it from Buddha, or the Dali Lama.

So I decided to go to the funeral. I actually felt compelled to go to the funeral and to stay all day. I wanted to be there for my line sister, mainly so that she knew that there was someone in the room that was there just to support her. The ministry of presence. And I also viewed this as a sweet opportunity from GOD to exercise my forgiveness muscle and to see what it would be like to let go of my anger.

The funeral was amazing. The Copeland brother that passed was somebody who had changed also; as an audience member who did not know him, you got the sense that this brother may have disappointed some people close to him at one point. But he had a second chance. The theme was all about second chances and the sermon was extraordinary.

extraordinarily excellent. Life won.

And I forgave. I let it go.

I wasn’t big enough to go speak to the pastor after the service to thank him. I didn’t have enough courage to do that, so there is still more work in me to be done. But isn’t that always the case? That we are all works in progress, all of the time?

Many things have come full circle since this story began. Lessons have come up again, allowing me the opportunity to respond differently. with more maturity. This is growth. And yesterday felt like a homecoming.

It was so fitting that this all happened with the Copelands. I think we are family. We must be. There was a young cousin there, about 24. He looked like my brother Gary!

My grandfather’s grandfather was killed on a train track when my grandfather’s father was 6 months old. that’s as far back as we can go. Maybe that man had brothers? Maybe one of those brothers made it to NJ. And maybe God brought us all together again to sort of figure it out, or at least wonder about it. A homecoming.

This life is full of mystery and wonder. Thank God for the journey!!

Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!!