No Dark Side

"He had no dark side"

"to dust you return"

I hope they don't lie at my funeral, the way they did President Reagan's service. You would have thought that they were burying Mother Theresa today.

One line that really struck was --"he had no dark side"-- from the homily. That's just an non-Christian thing to say. We all have a dark side, and a politician probably more than most because of the nature of the job. The message of the Christian faith is that --even though we've all got a dark side that does not seperate us from God's love.

And then this line from the funeral. "To dust you return." That's the one thing that levels us all. We are all dust--president, prime minister, pope, plumber.

When I die, I hope they don't try to make me out to be a saint, or too much of a sinner. (I've got a dark side for sure--maybe that's why I'll never be president.)

I hope they say I was a man who tried, and failed, and tried again to love God, to love his wife and kids, to love his neighbors, and who threw himself before the mercy seat of God, trusting that grace would lead me home.