A highly peculiar scene unfolded on Saturday night as 10 people gathered round a brown coffin, simultaneously in laughter and in tears.
I'll never forget that moment, when it truly struck me how different Christian attitude towards death is. Had we been in a traditional Chinese setting, all of us would have been disowned and chased out of the funeral hall for being disrespectful, but because it was David, who laughed the loudest when he was alive, others understood our strange grieving process.
Our chuckles and tears blurred into one wet circle, as bittersweet partings are when we mourn the loss, but rejoice in his salvation. We held hands and recounted all our silly, irreverent stories about David, the little things that lift the corners of our lips when we think of our mighty mouse. The rocker in him, singing "My Sacrifice"; the amazing vocalist, who took on both the male and female singing roles in "One Night in Beijing" (full operatic splendor!); David going on and on during the devo the both of us led together, and how I was annoyed at him the previous night for forgetting to buy Kaya for the rest; our brother was always a talker, often running into overtime during his sharings; David with his earnest smile, I told him if I ever earned enough money, I'd pass it to him to manage it for me; David, with his epistles chock full of insights stemming from a maturity miles beyond his 21 years; David, with his small physique (I first noticed when we were on the MRT and I hovered a bit above him), and how his school mates would tease him about THAT tight SMU T-shirt - bro, you'd look good in that tight T-shirt in heaven now; David, dancing and karaok-ing with all the other great men of God named David;David, touring the hallowed halls and preparing a room for his family, his brothers and sisters.
David is loved for all the major ways he has impacted us, the warrior who fought hard and strong, but we find and have come to love him in the minute details of our shared lives as well.
I miss you bro, but I know you'll be waiting at the other side of the river.
In Loving Memory of our beloved brother,
David Liao Xiang Ping
20 Nov 1985 - 27th Oct 2007
