Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax

A time to mourn

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

That may be my favorite reading, or at least my favorite of the usual funeral readings, but we didn't have that at the funeral today. Instead it was the one from Wisdom, the one that has

They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction, and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace.

My aunt was in pain, and now she is not. I'll leave the thoughts of whether she's at peace or merely gone for another time. Death usually has me pondering that, but this time I'm not worried about when I die, I'm thinking about living without my aunt in my life.