A question I have been ruminating on these past few days is, why the departure of someone from the earth plane is seen as an occasion to be sad and mournful? What sparked this pondering was when a 91year old cousin of mine died earlier this week. As she was well known in the city she lived in, I decided to do a search online to see if anything had been written about her life there. |
What I found was a number of death notices and when I clicked on one of them, I found the arrangements for her funeral service and what caught my eye was a link to a livestream of the service, for absent friends!
In the past I was not a fan of attending funerals, apart from those of my immediate family, as I prefer to celebrate my appreciation of the one who has passed over, through either lighting a candle or going for a nature walk in order to honour the connection we had together.
But the thought of attending a virtual funeral sparked my interest and curiosity, not only because I had no idea what this would look or feel like, but I was also interested to get a glimpse of my cousin’s five children who I often babysat fifty-five years ago, when I was an eighteen-year-old.
So, I logged in at the appointed time and was greeted by very solemn music as the coffin bearing my cousin’s body was led up the aisle of the church. The church itself felt very cold, a feeling I remember well from my previous visits to places of worship in various locations. The congregation consisted of a dozen or so people, wearing face coverings, who were, because of social distancing, spread out and sitting apart in a rather large church. In the beginning, because of the face masks, I was unable to recognise any relatives, but later during the ceremony when they took to the altar, maskless, to share some readings, I recognised them even though a half a century had passed since we were an integral part of each other’s lives.
It was their essence that shone though that I felt and recognised rather than the adult body they had grown into.
The ceremony continued with the priest doing his rituals and speaking about my cousin’s achievements in life, but there was no mention of the qualities and enrichment she brought to those who knew her which will continue to live on in their hearts. Then came the end of the service, where the coffin was led down the aisle with her immediate family following it, again to the rendition of further mournful music.
When the webcast was over, I wondered where the solemnness surrounding traditional funerals comes from. I feel for many of us when we come face to face with death it brings up fear and sadness at our own demise and the fact of our immortality. Could this be because we cannot control how or when we will depart from this realm of life, or could it be that we are erroneously led to believe that this life is all there is, and when it is over, we have gone forever.
Would death be viewed differently if we were told, from a young age, the truth about our passing over to the next plane of life? i.e. that it is just our physical body which dies and our essence, still intact, moves on to the next stage of its evolution. And furthermore, if it was explained to us that how we live is how we die, would this change our views on this natural transition?
Would we then not celebrate those that move on from this lifetime as we would a friend who is moving away to another location and wish them bon voyage to their next new beginning?
Elizabeth McC., UK
For further reading you may also like:
Death – Sadness or Celebration?
In the past I was not a fan of attending funerals, apart from those of my immediate family, as I prefer to celebrate my appreciation of the one who has passed over, through either lighting a candle or going for a nature walk in order to honour the connection we had together.
But the thought of attending a virtual funeral sparked my interest and curiosity, not only because I had no idea what this would look or feel like, but I was also interested to get a glimpse of my cousin’s five children who I often babysat fifty-five years ago, when I was an eighteen-year-old.
So, I logged in at the appointed time and was greeted by very solemn music as the coffin bearing my cousin’s body was led up the aisle of the church. The church itself felt very cold, a feeling I remember well from my previous visits to places of worship in various locations. The congregation consisted of a dozen or so people, wearing face coverings, who were, because of social distancing, spread out and sitting apart in a rather large church. In the beginning, because of the face masks, I was unable to recognise any relatives, but later during the ceremony when they took to the altar, maskless, to share some readings, I recognised them even though a half a century had passed since we were an integral part of each other’s lives.
It was their essence that shone though that I felt and recognised rather than the adult body they had grown into.
The ceremony continued with the priest doing his rituals and speaking about my cousin’s achievements in life, but there was no mention of the qualities and enrichment she brought to those who knew her which will continue to live on in their hearts. Then came the end of the service, where the coffin was led down the aisle with her immediate family following it, again to the rendition of further mournful music.
When the webcast was over, I wondered where the solemnness surrounding traditional funerals comes from. I feel for many of us when we come face to face with death it brings up fear and sadness at our own demise and the fact of our immortality. Could this be because we cannot control how or when we will depart from this realm of life, or could it be that we are erroneously led to believe that this life is all there is, and when it is over, we have gone forever.
Would death be viewed differently if we were told, from a young age, the truth about our passing over to the next plane of life? i.e. that it is just our physical body which dies and our essence, still intact, moves on to the next stage of its evolution. And furthermore, if it was explained to us that how we live is how we die, would this change our views on this natural transition?
Would we then not celebrate those that move on from this lifetime as we would a friend who is moving away to another location and wish them bon voyage to their next new beginning?
Elizabeth McC., UK
For further reading you may also like:
Death – Sadness or Celebration?