Presidential Funerals

February 09, 2019

I've developed a rather strange interest the past few weeks. I've been watching presidential funerals on You Tube.
Actually, this interest didn't start out as watching funerals. After watching the movie, "The King's Speech", I wanted to see if there was any footage of the coronation of King George VI. There was and I watched it. From there I looked for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation and watched it. Then I noticed that there were weddings of members of various European ruling families. I watched those. One of them had a voiceover in German so I could understand what was going on. The rest were in their native languages. It became sort of an exercise for me to see if I could figure out what was being said based on what was going on.
Then I watched the funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. That was an interesting one for me. I liked watching all the ceremony that attends such an occasion. I especially liked the sermon which was based on verses from the book of Proverbs in the Bible.
Somehow from there I happened on the funeral of President George H.W. Bush. I watched it from beginning to end. There was a lot of ceremony. To me it was inspiring. I liked listening to all of the tributes. My favourite one was from Alan Simpson. Not only was it a remembrance of a good friend, but it had some good lessons in it about friendship, loyalty and doing what is right even if it is not personally beneficial. The speech also contains my new favourite quote, "Hate corrodes the container it's carried in." The sermon given by Rev. Dr. Russell Levenson, Jr. was not only about his friend and parishioner but also about being a light in the world. It was about being kinder to others following the example that George H.W. Bush had set. In his sermon he held up a plaque that he was given. On it it said, "Preach Christ at all times. If necessary, use words."
Then I found the funeral of Senator John McCain. Again there was a lot of ceremony. There were also a lot of good speakers. I liked the tributes from Presidents Bush and Obama. I think it says a lot about the late Senator McCain that we would ask two men who had defeated him in his quest for the presidency to speak. My favourite quote is,"What better way to get the last laugh than to get George and I to say nice things about him to a national audience?" (from President Obama's eulogy.)
I watched other presidential funerals. I watched Presidents Ford and Reagan. I also watched President Nixon's funeral.
President Nixon's funeral was a different one. Unlike the others, who were commemorated in the National Cathedral in Washington, his was in California at his presidential library. The music was patriotic music. One of the songs was It's a Grand Old Flag which I though a bit odd for a funeral.
I found President Kennedy's funeral. As his assassination is a moment of historical importance, I thought I would watch it. I couldn't understand anything that was being said and wasn't sure why. I'd been to Roman Catholic funerals before. Then it dawned on me. It was in 1963 and Catholic churches still used the Latin Mass.
Of the funerals I watched I liked McCain and Bush the best. There was humor and there was also hope. It was not a bunch of people gathered together to weep and wail. It was the friends, family and coworkers of both gathered to give thanks, to remember and then to go out and follow the example of the one they were celebrating.
Even though I had no relation to either of these to men, I felt like I got to know them better. These services made me feel more hopeful and inspired to go out and do good in any way I can.