Eulogy by Lloyd Harrison Whitling

My friends, my neighbors, you several acquaintances who one way or another knew and loved the deceased, the several of us who admired and will miss the great mind that walked among us, we have gathered here for the celebration of a life that was, itself, a celebration in its own right. We all know (Insert Name) by what (s)he accomplished in his/her life.

(Make list of accomplishments here. Everybody has some. Secular people may be hard to list because we don't go around bragging about how good we are, so some digging may be required. Everybody knows the bad about everybody else, and will willingly repeat that. Insist on hearing the good for once).

Those who remain strangers to the secular concept of death will feel dismayed at the notion that we have gathered here to celebrate a death. It is not like that at all: (name) died in the act of living. The secular life, life lived to its fullest, a life of meaning and personal progress from which all humanity will somehow benefit, has ended and now we will lay our admired friend to rest.

Life well lived will always end, and we must recognize that. I toast to that.

Life poorly lived will always end, and we must recognize that. I toast to that.

The life someone dares not to live will always end, and we must recognize that. I toast to that.

The restricted life unchanced to live will always end, and we must also recognize that. I toast to that.

With that, we know our final farewell falls on deaf ears, and it is up to us how we will remember (Name) from this day forward, and carry to their conclusion whatever unfinished works may yet benefit our world, if we are capable to discern that, and to discern a way to completion. Let any mention of (Name) bring with it joy to the core of our beings, and let our faces register a smile of acknowledgement: "His/Hers was a life unwasted, an example for us all, a triumph of reason, and a pleasure to review. (Name) was a person worth knowing."

And so, having celebrated the good (name) did for us, who remain for the duration left to us, we will return (name) back to Nature and to the processes we know of by that name. Let us make one final toast, and with it vow to emulate whatever good we recall about (name), and to learn from his/her mistakes so we will not waste our own lives indulging in repetition of them. Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye one and all in remembrance of (name).