Wonderful record of Augustine's comments upon his appointment of a successor:
Letter CCXIII. (September 26TH, a.d. 426.)
The record prepared by Augustine of the proceedings on the occasion of his designating Eraclius to succeed him in the episcopal chair.
In the Church of Peace in the district of Hippo Regius.
Bishop Augustine having taken his seat along with his fellow bishops Religianus and Martinianus, there being present Saturninus, Leporius, Barnabas, Fortunatianus, Rusticus, Lazarus, and Eraclius—presbyters—while the clergy and a large congregation of laymen stood by, Bishop Augustine said:
We all are mortal, and the day which shall be the last of life on earth is to every man at all times uncertain; but in infancy there is hope of entering on boyhood, and so our hope goes on, looking forward from boyhood to youth, from youth to manhood, and from manhood to old age: whether these hopes may be realized or not is uncertain, but there is in each case something which may be hoped for. But old age has no...
Here's one of the prayers of Moses. We always read this prayer at funerals and burials. Also at the end when a brother or sister in Christ is near the end of the hard work of dying.
The story topped the Google news page this morning. Last night in Sin City, Ronda Rousey was kicked, bashed, and smashed into submission 48 seconds into her mixed martial arts match with Amanda Nunes. No one went to jail for abusing a woman. The cops didn't stop the abuse. A ref stopped it and awarded the perp the match. 
Chicago Tribune says the Democrats lowest clout since 1928 is due to "Democrats' destructive politics of righteousness."
David Bowie, Prince, and today George Michael died. The news is Elton John just penned a tender tribute. After Michael began LivingOut, he told an interviewer:
Praise God for Christmas
The Federalist 
If you're wondering, the word is cremation spelled backwards. The title is me moving backwards, pulling the three posts on cremation off the site. It's Christmas and I don't want to keep hurting people's feelings. Maybe I'll repost later? Then again, maybe I'll just put it in a book.
Pastoral care is not a high priority in the church today and it's hard to give it from a distance. The Apostle Paul did it through his epistles and most of the New Testament is simply the permanent record of pastoral care by pastors who lived at a distance from those they loved and led, done by means of letter writing in a day when texts, FB, and Skype didn't exist.