Farewell Russell

We had an early start this morning to be sure to arrive at the Cardiff and Glamorgan Crematorium for our dear friend Russell's funeral. Unusually for a man of 94,  two hundred people came to pay their respects in a service lasting sixty five minutes, over-running the double slot reserved., a measure of how well and widely known he was. Fortunately it was the only event in the chapel that morning, and place was locked just after the congregation dispersed. 

This is the first time I have been to the funeral of an Anthroposophist, led by a priest of the Christian Community, a group established by followers of Rudolf Steiner, guided by his writing. Her apparel was after the manner of an early 20th century German Protestant cleric in the era when the group was founded. The wicker coffin was sprinkled with water and enveloped by incense. More Catholic than Protestant. The liturgical content other than the ritual, I found original thoughtful, and poetic. Instead of classic forms of prayer addressed to God, meditative reflections were offered containing similar content, biddings reflecting the intention and understanding of what it means to entrust someone to God in an invitation to personal prayer. It's a similar approach to what I've heard from other reformed pastors at funerals but express in more lyrical and creative way. Anthroposophists are confident of the life beyond this world in a way historic European Protestants are not, since the reformation banned prayer for the dead to combat the monetisation of ancient prayer tradition by mediaeval Catholicism.

The priest told Russell's life story, and several others gave tributes or read poems. Here the element of appreciation and gratitude for a life well lived was expressed by different voices. Also read out was a personal testimony he'd written a couple of months before his death, a beautiful piece of prose poetry reflecting on his personal spiritual journey. A few months ago, we met for a chat and he shared this with me, so I was already acquainted with it. It seems he left copies of it in several places around the house, rather than just leaving it with essential documents, to ensure it wasn't missed. He'd been conscious of his impending morality for several years, and prepared well for his demise to make things easy for his wife Jacquie. This was his apologia pro vita sua, and expressed confidence in the spiritual adventure lying ahead of him in life beyond.

As a young man with an enquiring mind, he had encountered Steiner's teaching on experiencing life's  spiritual dimensions. He delighted in exploring these in church discussion groups and outside, but in the end, the elders of Congregational Church he attended declared his activity was unorthodox, and pushed him out, so his educative work went public into community centres and a home group which has continued meeting over the forty years since then. It's always been open, never exclusive, and hundreds of people have passed through it in their explorations and enquiries about the meaning and purpose of life ever since.

We often talked about his past, particularly his church's rejection of his unique kind of lay ministry, ahead  of its time in giving a central place to dialogue and enquiry about what Tillich called 'Ultimate Reality'. He never joined another church, nor did he condemn those who opposed him. He expressed bewilderment that they couldn't see his approach was consistent with a Gospel approach to religious faith and was never bitter. He realised 'all things work together for good to those who love God', and as a natural leader confident and comfortable with making progress by asking the right questions of others, he embodied the classic notion of priesthood of all believers in an admirable way. I certainly will miss our conversations.

The congregation retired to Penarth Pier Pavilion for a reception and buffet after the service. This was followed by the gathering forming one big circle and telling stories about what Russell had meant to their lives. I didn't have energy to sit still and listen for another hour, so I made my excuses and left for home, have acquired a lift with Farah a young Muslim woman who knew Russell through the Fountain School which all three attended in their early years before moving on to Llandaff Cathedral School. We had an interesting conversation on the way back - she lives quite near us - so we agreed we'd meet up en famille, to pursue our shared interest in the life of faith some time after Eid ul Fitr.

Inspector Montalbano returned to BBC Four in the evening, another watchable mystery, with humour, pathos and tragedy all mixed in. Apparently this episode aroused resentment towards author Andrea Camilleri from right wing populists in Italy, as it opens with scenes of the local police having to deal with processing rescued immigrants, involving two people traffickers in an on board rape case. In the first fifteen minutes drama the audience is exposed to the tragedy of some who are refugees and not economic migrants. Thoughtfully presented.

There was however a possible flaw later on in the story, when the death of a man in a love triangle is interpreted as suicide when it was murder. He is found drowned after a marital quarrel with his hands tied together - tying your own hands is difficult though not impossible, just implausible if the victim was drugged. It's possible the Examining Magistrate didn't think an autopsy necessary however, and presumed unjustifiably the death wasn't suspicious. It is possible that legal process in the north Italian province of Udine a decade ago in the story was so lax? It depends on context. The audience is left bewildered. If it's been published as a book, I'd like to read this story to see if a relevant clue or two wasn't omitted by the movie makers.