FLOWERS FOR AL

"Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality." (Romans 12:11-13).

This morning, February 19, 2013, the funeral of Al Riveras is taking place. I attended the funeral home visiting hours for Al yesterday afternoon. (This was the most crowded "wake" at 4 in the afternoon I'd ever experienced.) I seriously considered attending Al's funeral this morning. My work hours change from week to week, and it was a real blessing to have Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning available; but upon giving this some serious thought, I honestly thought I could make far more of a contribution to Al Riveras' memory and to his family by writing this piece than by attending his funeral.

My title of, "Flowers For Al", is a takeoff on the title of the 1958 short story, "Flowers For Algernon", by Daniel Keyes. (I happen to love short stories, but other than that explanation, this piece has nothing to do with, "Flowers For Algernon", nor with short stories.) The family requested no flowers for the visiting hours or funeral. This is because several family members are allergic to flowers. Flowers look nice, but they don't last long, anyway. My friend David C. Milley who used to be both my pastor and Al Riveras' pastor many years ago has often said that we should honor people while they live and not send them flowers when they're dead. My only regret about this piece is that Al Riveras won't read it. Well, maybe I shouldn't write that. Nothing is impossible for God. Maybe somehow in Heaven All will read it, but I certainly can't expect that.

Al Riveras and his wife Ciel Riveras actively attended Christian Life Center church in Walpole, MA back in the 1980s as did I and hundreds of other people. (That church has experienced a number of successes, setbacks, and changes over the past twenty-five years, and now continues in Sharon, MA as "Victory Assembly of God".) In those days I saw a lot of Al. Well, everybody did! Al was a very big guy. He was the quintessential "Big Al"- tall, heavy, black curly hair, somewhat "ethnic" looking (Al was Greek by heritage). Just about any time the church doors were open, Al and Ciel were there. Incidentally, Ciel is thin with light hair, and has a very sweet personality. Despite Al's physically large presence, there was nothing brash nor rude nor pushy that I can ever recall about Al Riveras. He was an auto mechanic, and a good one. He was the type of guy who worked hard at whatever he did. He was very friendly. Al had a great sense of humor. In a nutshell, Al and Ciel were just people you enjoyed being around. Honestly, there were people in the church in Walpole that my wife and I knew much better and were much closer to, but as I've thought about Al and Ciel over the past few days, I've fondly remembered visits to their home in Norwood and just how warm and pleasant they were.

It was with shock that I read a brief e-mail from a friend in which he wrote he'd just learned Al had died suddenly. The initial report was that Al died from a massive stroke, but I later learned it was a massive heart attack late last Wednesday night. I racked my brain to try to remember the last time I'd seen Al and Ciel, and to the best that I can recall it was around seven years ago at a funeral. I had no idea where the Riveras' were living or attending church, but over the next few days I learned they'd been living in Taunton for many years and are very active in a church in Foxboro. In fact, I've learned Al was an extremely active and committed layman at his church. In my opinion, we "born-again Christians" make a big mistake when we value people and categorize people the same way the world does. We have plenty of our own superstars. We have flashy singers, musicians, and entertainers upon who we pour all sorts of adoration. We make stars of great speakers and pastors. Somehow, the woman who keeps the church kitchen running and who directs and makes all those great church suppers happen, and somwhow the guy who "snakes" the church plumbing system when it backs up and who makes sure the roof gets repaired are treated lower than, well, some bum on the street corner. How pathetic! (Now, it's not the people doing the church grunt work who are pathetic, it's those who view them as unimportant but view flashy "Christian" entertainers as important that are pathetic.) I've learned Al was a Deacon and an usher and did all sorts of other service at his church.

I had a guy at the church I pastored in Framingham who was a lot like Al. "Bill" (his real name) was also an auto mechanic. Bill was a Deacon and an usher, but essentially an overall servant who would do anything needed at the church, no matter how difficult or how dirty the job. Bill never taught any Bible studies, nor did he ever preach any sermons. Once in a great while, he'd have to make an announcement about something, and he hated doing that. I can't imagine Al delivering sermons or doing anything like that, either. Yet, any pastor will tell you that the Bills and the Als in our churches are invaluable, and sadly, sometimes irreplaceable. I was talking to "Mike" a family member during the visiting hours time yesterday. Mike commented that Al had done so much at the church that his death leaves a tremendous void. Mike commented frankly that a lot of people are now going to have to step up and roll up their sleeves and at least help to fill Al's shoes there. Amen, Mike. Yes, we make such a big deal about it when pastors, teachers, and musicians die. And, I'm not saying we shouldn't. I can speak well in public, I can teach classes and Bible studies, I can write fairly well, and I can even sing O.K. But to the best of my memory I've never snaked a drain nor figured out how to repair a roof and done it, nor repaired a furnace. Oh, how we forget that Jesus Himself was a blue collar worker- a carpenter, who'd be ever so comfortable helping Al or Bill snake a drain or fix a furnace. Really.

Yes, I'm a pretty good speaker, but it was honestly hard to know what to say to the family at that funeral home yesterday. They're understandably in great pain. Al is in Heaven and all his troubles are over, but for the family it's such a loss. I hope many will reach out to the family and help them through the difficult weeks and months ahead. But if all we do is shed a few tears and then say, "oh well, that's life", we're really missing a lot! Al was a good faithful man. He was a good Christian. He was not perfect. Of course not! No one is! But he was not afraid to jump in and serve the Lord where He could. He was not afraid to use the talents and gifts God gave him. Al was one of those "salt of the earth" types who would literally give you the shirt off his back. How we need the "Als" at this time!

What a mess our world is in. Sadly, most of the evangelical churches and Christians are getting weaker and weaker and lazier and lazier. I write this piece to honor Al Riveras' memory, but also to let those who never met Al Riveras know about him. Al went to bed late Wednesday night, and went right into the arms of Jesus just a few minutes later. He left a fine legacy. When it came time to be "born again", to give his heart to Jesus Christ, to secure his eternal destiny, he did not play crazy games, he did it. And then when it came time to contribute to his church, his family, and to society, he did not play games, he did it. He's in Heaven now. But I want to ask you: 1. Have you given your heart to Jesus- have you made a 100% commitment to Christ and settled your eternal destiny? 2. Are you obeying God and faithfully serving where He has called you to serve?

If you would like to view Al Riveras' obituary it is found on the website of Roberts and Sons Funeral Home, Foxboro, MA; easily found through an online search engine.