“Nor must we speak evil of the dead. Let nothing but
what is good be said of the departed.”
— Francis Spirago,
The Catechism Explained
“And
he departed with no one’s regret.”
— 2 Chronicles 21:20, concerning
Jehoram king of Judah
During his last few years, my father resolved to clear his
office of as much clutter as possible rather than leave behind a mess for
others to deal with. Almost every time I would visit, he’d invite me to
take a few books home with me. I carried off perhaps twenty hardcovers in
all, heavy on the writings of the fourth and fifth generations of Plymouth
Brethren. Those faded spines were artifacts of my childhood. After Dad went to
be with the Lord, I resolved to read every one of them. Presumably he had,
so I could do it too.
And I did. It was an interesting experience. Times have
certainly changed.