Funeral

Today school ended at 10:30 in the morning so that students and teachers might attend the funeral of one of the village elders who had passed away last week. I went with some of the other teachers. There were about 200 people in attendance at the hall. The hall is a large multipurpose space where all kinds of activities are staged. As we all sat and reflected on the life of the elder we listened to psalms, the eulogy, and hymns. The hymns I was very familiar with because they were the same ones I had learned as a student at the assemblies at KGVI in Honiara. I was amazed at how quickly the words came back to me as I sang along with the other mourners. The end of the funeral was quite moving, the entire front half of the audience stood up and circled around the coffin in a large unbroken circle.