David Soul died, aged 80, on January 4, 2024.

People may remember David best from playing Ken Hutch(inson) in the famous TV cop series ‘Starksy & Hutch’ (1975-79) and his UK No.1 solo song hits ‘Don’t Give Up On Us and ‘Silver Lady’.

For others, what haunts our memory of David his role in the scary TV film ‘Salem’s Lot’.

Alcoholism clearly afflicted David and his relationships for a large part of his life, but it is encouraging to see that latterly he recovered and found stability and a soul mate in Helen Snell, with whom he had been in a relationship since 2002 and who he married in 2010 - his fifth marriage.

David had five sons and a daughter and it’s good to hear that, when he died in a London hospital, he was surrounded by his family and loved ones.

Hearing of famous people dying soberly reminds us of our own mortality. Some face it with humour, like the person who once wrote:

“I get up each morning and dust off my wits, 

Open the paper, and read the Obits. 

If I’m not there, I know I’m not dead, 

So I eat a good breakfast and go back to bed!

How do I know my youth is all spent? 

My get-up-and-go has got up and went! 

But, in spite of it all, I’m able to grin 

And think of the places my getup has been!”

The poetry of a pensioner anticipating ‘the inevitable’ with grinning, grateful resignation.

I have two funerals to conduct this week of dear older folk, each funeral a celebration of their lives and a commending into God’s hands.

Faith in Jesus Christ makes all the difference to such occasions, enabling a broader and brighter perspective. The prospect of eternal life can swallow sorrow and help dry loss’s tears.

The grieving process is still raw, and real, but seeing a loved one in God’s safe hands, and at home with Christ forever, is such great comfort. 

At 61, it’s sobering to appreciate I’m in my ‘latter years’ and a spur to ensure that I make the most of them in service and legacy. The purpose, by which I measure how I spend my time and resources, is 'to share Jesus’ Love and help people take steps closer to Him'.

There's a story - unfortunately unverified by historians - that Alfred Nobel woke up in 1888 to read his own obituary. In fact it was his brother Ludvig who had died, and journalists had got their wires crossed.

At this, it's said, Alfred realised that he didn’t want to be known as the inventor of dynamite and bombs of mass destruction, so he set up the Nobel Peace Prize. And it worked: every year Nobel’s name is recognised beside someone who made our world that bit brighter.

So what legacy are we in the process of leaving?