Funeral

Kate and I attended the funeral of Paul Upole at our church yesterday afternoon. Kate said it was the best funeral she had ever attended. The funeral was quite upbeat, all things considered. Paul was a sweet-spirited person, who was always helpful and friendly. He started a group in Griffin called "The Brotherhood" which was a group of men of every race and denomination, who met once a month to fellowship, sing hymns and choruses and have a bible study. He also worked on habitat houses and manned the food pantry. He was very knowledgeable about the derivation of hymns.

He had been nominated to serve as an elder in our church on numerous occasions. He always turned this post down, mainly because he was unwilling to uphold that portion of the Presbyterian theology which deals with predestination. He was raised a Methodist and was unwilling to accept the concept of predestination. It was the only denominational quirk which kept him from serving in our church. For everything else, he was more than willing to lend a hand.

That was a small bit of quirkiness to stand by under the circumstances.

One little task that Paul always did was to call members of the church on their birthdays. It was always a pleasant call to take when Paul called me on my birthday to wish me a Happy Birthday. Sometimes the little things are the most meaningful.

We will miss him. His funeral was just what he probably would have wanted. It was a celebration rather than a commiseration.