Funerals a time to celebrate a life

Regarding a letter to the editor lamenting the “lack of objectivity” in the press regarding two great Americans who have departed in the last two weeks, Aretha Franklin and Senator John McCain. The writer found it necessary to point out flaws in both of these great people in the interest of objectivity.

As a former pastor who has conducted dozens of funerals and memorial services, I have observed that an objective moral assessment of the recently deceased was never the immediate goal of such observances. Rather, these services were conducted to honor “the better angels” in good people and to allow a place for loved ones to grieve. There is always time later for the kind of self-righteous moralistic evaluations presented by the writer.

And, for what it’s worth, my understanding is that the senator refused early release from a prisoner of war camp because he knew that his early departure might lead to the deaths of his comrades in arms, something a true military hero could never do.

Regarding Franklin’s early life and subsequent struggles, it is important to note that rather than keep her humble beginnings a secret, she openly admitted these things and showed us all that our mistakes and problems do not have to define us.

Better, I think, to pay our respects to these two incredible people, both of them heroes, and to follow their examples as best we can. JOHN BAUDHUIN,