Happy New Year to all my readers... we hope that 2021 will be a better year throughout the world. But on the evening of 11th January I put this on my facebook page.... 

"We all longed for 2021. But it is only 11 days old.... Various strains of Covid are running rampant in UK, USA and other countries. We have an attempted coup/ revolution in the USA. In the last four days I have conducted two funerals and in between spent a day in ED with my wife and she has had an operation - back home on Sunday- ..doing well... but can I fast forward to 2022?"

"Revolution"

I took that word from one of the women who was interviewed after storming the Capitol in the USA. She was obviously in pain with sore eyes and was quite indignant. "We stepped inside and they maced me! They maced me? ... I just stepped inside." The interviewer asked her name and where she had come from and why? "This is a revolution!" she said. "We are taking over!" Well that never happened. I had thought that all the misinformation about the election and the vitriol would end up in such a mess. It is REALLY sad and I suspect it is not over. I sincerely hope that the new administration can make a difference for good and bridge the divides within society in the United States.

"Covid 19".

Life is normal really in New Zealand. Of course it is difficult to get into the country and to leave the country. There are hold ups in imported stuff arriving and people arriving in the country have to isolate at hotels set up for the purpose and have tests etc. The new strains of Covid 19 are scary and today the NZ government are insisting on people flying to our country having tests before they get on their flight! But I know that in the UK things are going berserk. Numbers contracting the disease and numbers dying are on the increase and the health system is stretched to the max. We have a son, daughter-in-law and three gorgeous grandchildren in Edinburgh so we eagerly await every Skype session we have. In spite of vaccines, Covid 19 is still causing mayhem in our world.

What a weekend!

On Sunday 3rd of January our Brother-in-law, Bob, died. He had been battling brain tumor issues for about three years. About mid year three years ago he was told that he only had a few months to live and wouldn't make Christmas. He just didn't know which few months they were. He has in a very calm way taken one day at a time and lasted a lot longer than expected. He is my wife's, sister's husband. He had been in care for about 6 months at a rest home and just before Christmas he went into the Emergency Department at Dunedin Hospital. He was sent back to the rest home and cared for in a hospice room. They had always said that I would lead his funeral when it happened. So my wife and I headed out to Mosgiel, a township about 11 miles away from Dunedin, to spend a day with his wife and sort out funeral issues. It took a week of working out because three of his children and their children lived in Australia and could not come to the funeral. On Friday we gathered at the funeral home where I led proceedings, my wife and daughter read two messages from family in Australia, and my daughter had prepared and printed the service sheets. Relatives in Australia could tune in from there. It was an exhausting week. Bob was a landscape gardener with a lot of experience and skill. He also loved hunting rocks and fossils, collecting stamps, journalling, collecting toy vehicles, and enjoying nature. He was 89 years old.

Funeral number two.

On the day that Bob died, I had a phone call from the senior officer at the fire station informing me that a retired fire fighter's wife had suffered a cardiac event and died. She was just 64 years old and had retired a month or so earlier. I knew the man well but was confident he would not involve me in the funeral. I said confidently to the officer, "He's a good Catholic boy, he'll have a priest involved!" I did, however, drop an email to the firefighter to express condolences and promised to call on him. I got a warm reply that night, but later in the week I got a further email asking if I would lead the funeral the next Monday? Of course I said "Yes" and found time to spend a couple of hours with him and his four adult children sorting out funeral issues and learning about her. (I had never met her.) I promised to get back to them and call again on Saturday. .... On Monday just after midday I led the funeral in a packed chapel, with heaps of retired fire fighters joining a big number of current fire fighters at the funeral. .... but...

"I am a bit sore.."

Early on the Friday morning my wife commented that she was "a bit sore" on the right side of her stomach. We went to the funeral then back to her sisters place to socialise, but when we got home she declared she didn't want dinner, was "still sore" and would go straight to bed. The next morning when she was still sore we rang the Doctor and talked with him. He said to go to the Emergency Department at the hospital, so away we went. There we waited, and waited and waited. Nurses took all the readings, a doctor arrived and said she thought it was appendix troubles, but we had to wait for a surgeon to come and confirm things. Teenagers mucking around on the Friday night had caused an accident and surgeons were dealing with two critically injured patients from that. Eventually one was freed to come and she organised for Jean to be admitted, then to have a scan and late on the Saturday night, she was operated on. I had called the funeral family and told them the predicament and said I would meet them on Sunday. Jean came home on Sunday lunchtime and I left to meet the family. I worked till late that night on the funeral and started again early the next morning. Thankfully all went well. It finished with an internment at a country cemetery, where we had to cope with a very strong and cold wind. I went home absolutely exhausted from my week's work.

I decided if this was 2021, maybe we could fast forward to 2022?

Three things...

• You really do not know what is around the corner. I guess I predicted that Donald Trump's tenure would end in a disaster. In talking with an American firefighter now living in NZ we both wondered if violence would break out when the State's votes were certified, but it was shocking to see. I knew I had to lead Bob's funeral but we did not know when that would be... and our plans for the week went out the window. Certainly too, my retired fire fighter was looking forward to twenty years of retirement with his younger wife, but that will not happen.
• I wonder if that teenage driver had a clue about the flow on impact of his driving? My wife's appendix became increasingly and dangerously inflamed while we waited for a surgeon. I guess there were others in the ED also waiting for a surgeon. Do we think about the whole consequences of our actions? Thankfully she is fine now.
• From both funeral services I have received really good compliments about how I led them. A niece said, "You've still got it! You have a gift." I've received emails from Australian relatives and after the ceremony was swamped by people wanting to affirm what I had done. Monday's funeral was the same. It felt like the fire fighters - who are certainly not religious - were proud of their chaplain and again today when I visited fire stations, many unsolicited, just shook my hand saying, "You did good. ... as you always do. Well done." I get this sort of feedback every funeral I do, and I cannot fathom what I do or say that makes the difference. I do put a lot of work and thought into each funeral. I still get nervous and worry, and especially so this time trying to prepare with two families in my mind at the same time. ... but I guess as this year has started with such a hiss and roar, I'm feeling maybe I'll really retire at the end of the year? I was really stretched to get everything done.