All Shapes and Sizes

Over my years of ministry—during which I’ve officiated more funerals than weddings—I’ve learned that spirituality comes in all shapes and sizes.

At our weekly Sunday morning breakfast, my father-in-law, Gary, mentioned that one of our neighbors, a woman he and my mother-in-law, Joyce, are good friends with, had told them she wanted one of those funerals where they put you on a boat, launch you out to sea, and set you on fire. A Viking funeral, in other words.

We all chuckled at the image. It’s not exactly something you see down at the local marina. But behind the humor was something deeply human; the desire for our departure from this world to mean something. Whether we picture it as a Viking ship burning against the horizon, a quiet graveside service under an old oak tree, or ashes scattered over a favorite mountain, we’re all expressing something about what we believe and hope for. We want our lives to matter.

Faith, like the funerals we imagine, comes in all shapes and sizes. Some people find comfort in traditional rituals; others meet God best under the open sky. What matters most isn’t the ceremony itself, but the spirit behind it—the longing for meaning, the search for peace, the hope that our lives and deaths will somehow reflect something sacred.

Jesus didn’t hand out a script for how spirituality should look. He met people where they were: fishermen, tax collectors, zealots, women at wells, men in trees. Each encounter was unique. Each story was holy in its own way.

Maybe that’s the point. The Divine doesn’t fit neatly into our boxes, rituals, or even our theology. Jesus meets us in the varied ways we live, grieve, and hope—in all our shapes and sizes.

Until my next post…

Be salty, stay lit.

Rainer Bantau —The Devotional Guy™

You can now find my articles in The Christian Grandfather Magazine.

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