My Son’s FIL is a UMC minister, and he just officiated his own octogenarian father’s funeral this afternoon, on Father’s Day. My son gets back from the ME in 4 days, so I was there to represent. Interesting parable he used - there was a country doctor who traveled around the countryside in horse and buggy, making house calls. Everywhere he went, his dog would faithfully follow, trotting a few paces behind the buggy. So the doctor gets word that one of his elderly patients was nearing the end, and he grabbed his bag and hat and took off down the road to visit. When he arrives, he heads up the stairs of the man’s farmhouse to attend the patient, but the dog, like usual, parks himself on the front porch to wait for his master to attend to business. The doctor takes the vitals and sadly reports to the man that his organs are failing and that the end is near. The man nods knowingly, and asks the doctor “what happens to us when we die?” The doctor thinks for a minute, says a quick prayer, and is at a loss for words. Suddenly, he hears the dog scratching at the front door, trying to get inside. He tells the man “I don’t know. I don’t know if there’s a heaven or hell or an afterlife but do you hear my dog scratching at your door? He knows I’m in here, and he wants to be close to me, he knows I give him food and water and shelter and kindness and affection and that’s all that matters to him. And I’d like to think that when we die it’s a little like that for us, we want to be close to our master.” I’m not sure what that means, but it made me feel a little better. (For all I know, there was a bear racing towards the house to devour the dog, the doctor, and the patient)