Funeral Homily for Trudie Watkins Cromwell - John 14:1-7

In hearing so many wonderful stories about Trudie in recent days, it is clear to me and and to all of you, I’m sure, that she was a highly intelligent woman. Women of her generation did not often have pioneering careers in computer programming. My mother was born just five years before Trudie. She was also quite smart, and she often said that it wasn’t easy for women who could outthink those around them. A college education was sometimes available, but career aspirations usually took a back seat to marriage and family. As an aside, I’m pretty sure my mom was smarter than my dad, though he wasn’t a slouch. While he was studying to be a civil engineer, my mom took shorthand and typed all of his papers. I don’t think he ever did learn how to spell the word, “pressure” correctly. So I’m just amazed at the stories of how Trudie broke glass ceilings in her career. Given her keen intellect, it’s no surprise that some of her coding is used around the world to this day.

If you talk to any of her many loved ones, it’s clear that computer codes are not the only ones she cracked. She knew the code for so many wonderful things in life. She knew the code for being a loving and adventurous mother and grandmother. She knew the code for being an incredible sister and aunt. She knew the code for brightening people’s days with her beautiful voice. She knew the code for neighborhood development. She knew the code for happiness that comes from curling up with a good book and delving deeply into subjects for the joy of it. She knew the code for caring for people by being genuinely interested in their lives. To a person, everyone will tell you how special she was. She cracked so many wonderful codes in her life.

I think that for bright and creative people like Trudie, it can be especially difficult when life takes a painful and unexpected turn, as it did for her at the end of a long marriage. It can feel like a code was missed, or that there was some error in the code. But the truth is that God created the operating system that we all run on, and frankly, it’s a bit glitchy. For reasons that we don’t fully understand, we humans fall short in this life, and we hurt one another. No one can code their way into a perfect life, but we can do our best to create good and loving lives, which Trudie did so beautifully.

As a pastor, I’ve noticed something else about people who are much smarter than the  rest of us. They often think quite deeply about matters of religion. They ask big questions and can be unsatisfied with easy answers. They often struggle to believe that God’s grace is freely bestowed on us, no matter how we measure up. Trudie had an remarkable spiritual journey between faith and agnosticism and back to faith again. It is a challenge to crack the spiritual code, after all.

In the Gospel of John, Thomas struggled with that, too. Jesus has just laid out the big picture for the disciples. The words are comforting. “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” I think this passages is especially comforting to architects and their families. Jesus is assuring us of the built environment in heaven, where we already have a home waiting for us.

Thomas, however, wanted more information. Perhaps it seemed too good to be true, and he wondered how on earth he was going to find his way. I wonder if he worried whether he was worthy of heaven. He said to Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” In other words, you do not need a map, or a perfect life. There is no difficult code to crack. Jesus has already shown us the way. The life he lived, so full of love and mercy for everyone he met, has shown us the path to heaven. The code for getting into heaven is not of our doing or perfection or achievement, but Christ’s own life, death, and resurrection.

Trudie’s life gave us glimpses of that code. The ways that she lived and loved were an earthly reflection of a divine, heavenly love. We take comfort today in Jesus’ words, that she knew the way to heaven, and that she is in a dwelling place built just for her. Her joy is complete. Whatever unfinished coding projects she had are now done. I imagine Trudie has already found the library in heaven and is working on a paper to present to the other angels about the glitches in our human operating system. Like her friends and family in this life, the angels will be blessed to know her.