Dan Hopley's funeral

After a year and a half of being diagnosed with cancer and being given 6 months to live Dan finally went to be with God a few weeks ago.  On my last visit to him we read Philippians 1 v20 together.  “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.”  These verses did truly reflected Dan’s approach to his illness.

As a church we had been praying for Dan to be healed but what we have encountered is a man whose faith in God has been strengthened through the tough times he has had to endure.  Like the carbon that is transformed into a diamond, the heat and the pressure change a soft black powder into a resilient sparkling gem that refracts light in all different directions.  No one could have had contact with Dan without noticing that sparkle.  It was the light of God bouncing off every facet.  This was perhaps one of the reasons why some 280 people turned up to the funeral.  Family, friends, work colleagues, doctors, nurses, neighbours and members of the church.  

Dan was such a talented man in his field of engineering. If you were to picture Dan’s life as a race, it would be a distance race, if Dan’s talent was translated into running, it would be an Olympic race. Often the runners are all bunched up as they go round the track until they get to the bell, the final lap.  Suddenly one runner emerges from the pack.  Up until then he was just part of the pack, now he surges ahead.  The crowd rise to their feet, wondering if he can sustain this supreme effort.  But he does.  Dan’s last lap was very much in the public gaze, he ran it strong, he ran it well, he ran with faith and hope and inspiration, he ran with an ever increasing sense of God’s presence, he pressed through the pain barrier, he discovered things about himself he never knew before, he showed perseverance, devotion to his family and appreciation of all those helping him.  This was a final lap worth seeing.  It was a lap that touched so many who would often gather to pray at his house.  Rather than leaving despondent we would be filled with faith.

At times such as these many questions arise in our minds.  So many mysteries, unknowns, what ifs, why’s.  For me I try to focus on things I do know and then hold on to them.

Dan tenaciously hung on to life not because he was afraid of dying but because he wanted God to be glorified in his healing.

Dan was able to hang on to life for so long because he hung on to Jesus so tenaciously.

Dan knew Jesus as his saviour and he had a full and certain hope that he would spend eternity with him.

Dan was an inspiration to all those he came into contact with.

Dan’s race was a race run well.

Dan’s prayer for you would be to take a considered look at the God who sustained him through this time. The God who gave him such a wonderful hope of eternity with him. 

Derek Gibbs

Comments

• 21/06/2010 14:32:51

  By Nicky Marriott, Southampton

  Thanks so much for putting this out there, Derek. We sometimes find ourselves in v.sad times that can hit us right in the solar plexus, truly taking the wind out of our sails. But, that seems to be exactly the time when God can show us in our best light and in His glorious light! I so appreciated knowing Dan and Jo (plus 1 at the time) for a very short while (not long enough), but my overriding memory is of a couple passionate for God, his people and the lost. They're quietness and gentleness always got to me, and, made me want to stay and listen to what they both had to say, as well as wanting to get to know them a lot better. Jo, to you and your dear children I can only guess how you must be doing, but our love and blessings to you. In Him, XXX'

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