I think it’s sad when all someone’s epitaph can say is “She loved Jesus and lived faithfully to God” or words to that effect. Summing up someone’s entire lifetime like that is like saying, “She hid under the bed and we never had to tell her to get a haircut.”

How is the world bettered for her presence? Did she hate gays? Was she the kind of Christian that pardoned murder as long as it furthered her political agenda? The kind of Christian who sang “let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with me,” then voted for people who would dismantle the social support structure for immigrants and the homeless?

Did she tell good jokes? Did she cook well? Did she see any other countries? Was anyone on the planet happy to see her each day? None of this is transmitted. All we know, vaguely, to no certain extent, was that she was pretty much religious and that’s all.

I read an epitaph like that today and it made me very sad. Her God gave her the gift of life and she hid it in a shoebox and let it die in the dark, without having experienced any of her God’s Creation. AFAIK.