Where Is Thy Sting?

Jack Allen and Eugene read the brief obituary for Connie's grandmother, Mildred Kendall. Eleven lines seem painfully small beside a whole life, but Jack reminds Eugene that an obituary is only a marker. Mildred's real legacy lives in the people she has touched, and Connie now needs her friends more than she needs anyone to measure her grandmother's life in words.

At home, Connie and her mother, June, sort through Mildred's belongings. A music box plays “All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name,” and its little compartment holds photographs of the people Mildred loved: Connie as a baby, Bill and June when they were young, and Mildred's late husband in uniform during World War II. Reverend Thomas Rowe, Mildred's pastor from New York, arrives to help with the arrangements. The funeral will be in Odyssey, after which her body will be taken home to New York for burial.

Connie's father, Bill, arrives from the Bahamas with only a garment bag and an impatient desire to leave again. He is angry that Mildred came to Odyssey and died away from him, even though his own travels have kept him away from her. When the family discusses the service, Connie wants it to reflect Mildred's faith and celebrate the eternal life she believed she now enjoys. Bill insists that death is not happy and demands a solemn, traditional funeral. George Barclay proposes a service that honestly allows both grief and hope, but Bill cannot understand how those two things can belong together.

Bill grows harsher as he faces his mother's possessions. He calls them junk, then pauses over the music box he had once bought for her because she loved it. On its underside, someone has written that it is from Bill, along with a reference to 1 Timothy 6:17-19 and a prayer that he will find true treasure. Bill knows he did not write the inscription and has no idea what the verses mean. Instead of looking for an answer, he storms out, furious that everyone thinks he is running away.

At the funeral home that evening, Connie fears that her father will not come to the viewing. He finally arrives drunk. Reverend Rowe and the family refuse to let him enter in that condition, and Bill admits that he is grieving in the only way he knows - by trying to forget. His anger gives way to shame as he confesses that he has made a mess of his marriages and his life and has not even seen his mother before her death. June takes him home rather than letting him embarrass himself before the other mourners.

The next morning, Bill is sober and miserable. He still refuses to explain what is troubling him, but he withdraws his objections and promises not to disrupt the funeral. During the service, Jack and George read promises of resurrection and hope. Connie speaks of Mildred's unshakable trust in Jesus. Her grandmother had underlined passages declaring that even death cannot separate believers from Christ's love and that Christ's resurrection has robbed death of its sting. Reverend Rowe describes the new life Mildred believed awaited her, free from death, sorrow, tears, and pain.

When the other mourners leave for the reception, Connie, June, and Bill remain for a private farewell. Connie tells her grandmother, “See you later,” while June thanks Mildred for everything. Bill apologizes beside the casket for not having been the son his mother wanted. He finally reveals that he and April have separated and that, while Mildred was dying, he had been enjoying a cruise. Looking back at the selfishness and broken relationships in his life, he decides that what he has done is unforgivable.

Connie explains the inscription on the music box. Mildred has used Bill's gift as a reminder to pray that he will stop trusting money and temporary pleasures and find the true life and lasting treasure that come through God. Connie assures him that nothing is beyond forgiveness and tells him he can find the life Mildred wanted for him through Jesus. June urges him to let honest reflection lead him somewhere better, but Bill says he cannot ask Mildred or God to forgive him when he cannot forgive himself. He says goodbye to his mother and leaves, still running from the hope offered to him.

As Connie and June prepare to go to the reception, Connie notices that her mother has spoken as though she shares Mildred's faith. June realizes that she has been living between Connie's belief and Bill's unbelief, relying on Connie's faith without truly making it her own. Mildred's death, Connie's strength, and Bill's despair have shown her that she no longer wants to live that way. Beside Mildred's casket, June tells Connie that she wants to know Jesus as Connie does and asks her daughter to introduce her to him. Connie answers, “I'd love to.”