I hope you {dance}

Life is short.

But I’m not afraid. When I die, I hope you dance. I hope you do a full-out jig.

Stop giving me that awkward stare. I’m really not that crazy.

I attended a funeral last fall. Unfortunately, I’ve been at quite a few in the last year. But this one was traumatizing, unlike anything I’ve experienced previously or since, from the about-to-rain suffocation of the low-hanging storm clouds, to the crunching gravel beneath the wheels of the hearse, to the utter silence of the people, to the tomb-like, clammy chill in the air. The ghostly rustle of starched black fabric of the people walking towards the graveside was almost more than I could bear. What was the worst, though, was the total lack of communication and expression. Almost no one–out of hundreds–spoke to the grieving family. Almost no one cried.

And even though the one who died was a jubilant follower of the King, no one celebrated.

When I die, I hope you dance.

I hope you hug my family, and cry if you need to and laugh if you want to and don’t feel embarrassed if you do both at the same time. I hope you’ll understand that if your heart is sad, you don’t need to say a word. Just be. And realize the truth.

I am safe from the world of harm, and have the rest of eternity to explore my Father’s nature, to bask in His pure, unspeakable love, to uncover the mystery and beauty of an unseen kingdom. To live out my destiny and talents forever in a brand new world. Earth as we knew it was just the training ground!

It is a time to celebrate.

When I die, please don’t wear black. I hope you wear all the colors of the rainbow. Blue and orange and turquoise and yellow and every shade in between.

I hope you sing Blessed be Your Name. I hope you raise your hands towards heaven.

I hope you clap. I think the Savior deserves that much expression, at least, for loving me so, so well through this life and into my forever home. It’s a home I’ve always longed to live in! I’ll be so happy to finally arrive!

I hope you celebrate. You can celebrate my life, if you really want to, but what I really hope you celebrate is my King.

Celebrate the glories of heaven’s kingdom realm! I don’t want the pastor to talk about ashes to ashes, dust to dust and all that racket. I want him to tell what how to live in real joy. But don’t use the word “gospel”, please, Pastor. Use simple, everyday words like love, forgiveness and peace. Explain the Father’s loving heart, because it is AMAZING, and there are people who haven’t fully heard how it transformed my life. Vividly display being set free as best you can, Pastor. Jump around a little–no, a lot!

Get excited!

Tell about the passionate, unshakeable, transforming, peace-oozing love of an incredible Prince of Peace. Talk about His love for the downtrodden….. how He bore (literally carried, experienced, was wounded by) our griefs and carried (took upon Himself) our sorrows.

Make sure you mention that He definitely does not long for flowery words or perfectly choreographed actions. He wants our love, plain and simple. Whether we offer love to Him or not, He offers His unshakeable love to us, always–no conditions attached.

The King’s love is here, now, forever and REAL–that’s what I want to make sure everybody knows, Pastor. Make sure they know how to access His love, right now!

When you lower my casket into the ground, I want the kids to have confetti and glitter to toss. It will be a chance for them to remember that our hearts can join the celebration of the angels any time they want to, even when our bodies are stuck down here on earth.

I want a cloud of colorful balloons to be released into the air.

I want the balloons to symbolize my soul at last set free from the limitations of my old flimsy body.

I want you to remember only one thing when I am gone. Eternity is real. Heaven’s kingdom realm is unspeakably awesome, and I really hope we can spend it together. We’ll have far greater adventures than we ever did here on earth! Our destinies will be launched as they were always meant to be–at last, we will live as we were meant to!

I hope that if you never thought about life after death, or a passionate Lover who can’t be seen with earth-eyes but can be felt when no visible person would dare to venture near you, or a Lord who is willing to forgive the darkest offense–if you never considered these things, I hope you’ll know that it’s not too late!!

There’s this cool love letter around. You don’t even need to go dig it off of some old dusty shelf. You can read part of it here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKmdIdQg3Ks

I hope that if you thought you’d never see me again, you’ll meet the Kind King, and reconsider.

And when you truly meet Him, you will fall in love. And then, when your heart is completely satisfied in love at a level you’ve never known before, and the smile of forgiveness splits your face, and your eyes shine so brilliantly with the light of heaven that you surprise yourself when you look into the mirror, and the ever-present protection of your Heavenly Father comforts you in a way that you never though could be possible….

I hope you dance.

I’ll be dancing too.