Quirky Neurons Strike Again
It’s amazing how the human mind works. Yesterday, mine gave me another jolt.
Yesterday was Tio Tec’s internment. I attended the mass at the Basilica Minore. In the Gospel reading, the priest focused on this passage:
John 14:5-7
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
In his homily, he segued on to death – naturally. He said, isn’t home the best destination for any traveler ? (I think some would disagree with him on that). Death is like going home, he continued. After all, dying is the only way we can get to heaven – our ultimate home – and be with God. He then mentioned a short verse which I once saw framed on my elementary school Principal’s table. It went on like this (these are not the exact words; I’m still looking for the source. I will be very much obliged to anyone who can give me the source and thus save me some work, he he)
When I was born, everyone in the room was laughing; I was crying. When I died, everyone in the room was crying; I was the only one laughing.
It was obvious, the point that the priest was trying to make. He wanted to tell us that although we are sad that Tio Tec has left this world and us, we should be comforted by the thought that Tio Tec himself is happy for he is going home to God.
The priest was good at making people cry. However, after he went on and on about death and happiness and going home, bringing tears to my eyes, which I would not wipe (Insert: Do you realize that people in funerals notice you’re crying when you wipe your tears away, not when they’re dripping down copiously on your face? People in funerals do not look at each other directly; they like to stare down at their toes. However, they’ll know you’re crying if you wipe off your tears because they see the movement through their peripheral vision.) – he said something that triggered all my quirky brain neurons into a reaction:
The best way to be happy ____________________________
My brain shifted to hyper-alert mode. Have you ever experienced trying to guess what a person will say to you? You sometimes know what the person’s going to say before he says it, right? I felt that way then. Before the priest could continue, my brain has already supplied me with the rest of the statement:
The best way to be happy is to be dead.
Turns out my brain and I were wrong. But it was too late, I was already laughing (quite loudly, too) in the middle of the homily in a mass for the dead. I just tried to cover it up; I pretended to have a bad cough. I was successful, too, I think for some of the people there seemed repelled and were covering their nose and mouth with their hanky.
I have to remember to update my “Quotable Quotes” post to reflect this piece of wisdom.
I am Alive, am I not? 
in the midst of all our sadness and problems, there will always be something that we will find funny, however inappropriate though the situation is. in your case, that was the homily. hahaha! but really, if we succumb to our sadness and our problems, how do we deal then when other difficult situations arise?
A relative of Tio Tec says farewell.