Funeral sermons

I always found funerals very formal, uncomfortable and kind of de-humanizing to the person they're in honour of. It's hard to focus on anything other than that person's death, they're dead now, look at them dead in the box there, that'll be in the ground soon you know...Lord Graciously Hear Us and all that bollix.

I went to a funeral of a good friend last year and by far the most comforting and soothing and therapeutic part of the whole experience was when all of his family and friends met down the pub later that day and just pure shyte talked about him. "P would fcuking slaughter us all if he knew we were drinking wine after his funeral...let's all have some wine!" "Remember that time P got stuck inside that public toilet and we had to call the fire brigade to get him out." "He could dance like a motherfcuker too, has anyone seen that video of him dancing with that kid at A's wedding, hold on I think I have it here.."

It was just pure laughter and raw tears and weeping with grief and bloody brilliant, hilarious memories and I don't think I've ever seen that kind of thing captured in your run-of-the-mill church funeral, which is either a bit grim and formulaic or injected with a faux 'cheer' that doesn't vaguely represent who that person actually was.