It’s Tempting to Say This About Dave Herman

Yesterday was Dave Herman’s funeral.

It was at Effingham’s First Baptist Church.  Dave’s pastor, The Rev. Dr. Roger Marshall, did an outstanding job.

Our Associate Pastor Leanne and I were there because Dave was an active and integral part of our church’s Tuesday Morning 9 O’Clock Bible Study.  (It’s one of 3 we do every week at nursing homes and senior living centers.)

We only knew Dave in the last few pages of the final chapter of the book of his life.  Illnesses had begun to take their toll on his body.

But his soul, his spirit, and his personality were apparently largely intact —

—Yesterday, people spoke of Dave’s positive attitude.

We knew him as someone who loved to commend us

with things like “Good, good!”  and “Yup, yup, yup!”

—People spoke of Dave’s love of singing, especially hymns.

We knew him as someone with a strong voice who seldom needed the hymnal

becuase he knew all the words to all the verses.

—People spoke of Dave’s love of life and love of his Lord.

We knew him as someone who rarely complained,

but often volunteered to pray out loud and usually exemplified gratitude in all things.

Our Bible Study Group meets this morning.  We’re going to mourn our loss but celebrate his gain because of his profound faith in Christ.

It’s tempting to say that when I grow up, I wanna be like Dave Herman.