Nietzsche famously said, “In heaven, all the interesting people are missing.” Nietzche never met Alan Stout Sr. Alan had a soul reshaped by the God who makes all things new. God had put interest in things, ideas, themes, and rhythms in the life of this dear saint. He was a walking encyclopedia of interesting things because he had lived an extraordinarily interesting life.
Our Church gathered on two occasions to sing to this precious saint, and in our last Psalm-Roar, we sang 11 pieces of music to send this beloved to the Beloved One. We closed with the Song of Simeon because now it was time for Alan to depart in peace according to God’s word. He did depart less than 24 hours later. His life was a song filled with interests. He was interesting because he saturated his existence in the eternal good and the eternal God.
Death is not the soul’s escape to non-interest but the saturation of the soul in the truly interesting world. This dear saint has now joined the choral majesty of Augustine, Luther, and all those who died in Christ. When his soul entered into sabbath rest, he delivered all his interests as a gift to the Interesting God; the God who holds our attention in this world.
Alan’s soul is now absorbed into the interests of the world to come. The dead in Christ will find comfort and eternal repose in the interests of the Ascended Messiah who rules and reigns to make all worlds interesting in his sight.
Nietzsche was wrong. Heaven is where all interesting people go. To be in heaven is to enter into the poetry of existence. It’s where all earthly interests find sabbath rest, surrounded by interesting martyrs, angels, and archangels. Alan is now in their company!
Rest in Peace, Alan Stout Sr.
I love “the poetry of existence “