I CONDUCTED a funeral for an uncle last week. I had not been to the crematorium at Bodmin before.

The congregation faced great picture windows which beautifully framed a view down the verdant valley outside. My uncle had always loved the natural world, so the setting felt just right.

We sang a very ancient song, perhaps as much as 3,000 years old. It is often read or sung at funerals.

It begins: ‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.’ I do not know whether my uncle chose it because it was familiar, because he liked the tune we sang it to, or because he was especially drawn to the words themselves.

Whatever his reasons, the ideas within it resonated with us that afternoon. There are many allusions to the natural world and to the generosity of life within it.

We sang about lying down in green pastures and being led beside still waters; about a table spread before us and our heads anointed with the oil of joy.

We also sang about a loving presence that remains alongside us, even as we walk through life’s darkest valleys.

The song reaches its climax with the exclamation, ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life’, and concludes with the hope that we shall dwell in this great house of love all our days.

The song is found in the Bible: it is the 23rd Psalm. It suggests that all these good things that enrich our lives flow from the great source of love to which we sometimes dare to give the name, God.

In this ancient poem, God is imagined as an attentive and generous shepherd, and we as his beloved sheep.

At times life can be very difficult. We really do find ourselves in dark valleys.

We know the daily struggle of making ends meet, fulfilling our obligations, caring for those entrusted to us, and trying to keep others happy.

But a funeral gives us an opportunity to stand back from the everyday pressures of life and take in a wider view: a view in which we begin once again to notice the moment-by-moment goodness of the world around us.

Yes, this is a planet blighted by war and hatred.

No, we are not living sustainably within it and are beginning to suffer the consequences of human greed.

And yes, the natural world that gives us green valleys and fresh strawberries also gives us stinging nettles and a multitude of rabbits insatiably hungry for anything growing in a beloved vegetable plot.

Yet, for all that, the world remains graced: good, generous, and full of gifts.

We are invited to take time to enjoy our lives within this generous home.

And perhaps, as we pause to notice the verdant goodness of life, we may catch a glimpse of that unimaginably loving presence whom the author of that ancient song believed to dwell within and behind all things, full of goodness and mercy.

Pastor James Gregory

Crediton Congregational Church