“You’re born alone, you die alone and in between you cheat yourself out of that realisation as agreeably as you can.” Robert Lenkiewicz
Posted by Rupert Callender of the Green Funeral Company Claire and I spent the last day of August At Torre Abbey on the seafront at Torquay, seeing an exhibition called Death and the Maiden, featuring the work of the painter Robert Lenkiewicz. To the uninitiated, Robert was a flamboyant Plymouth based artist, instantly recognisable by […]
Forever Yours
I’m swept away in this moment I feel your heartbeat next to mine My hands are tremblings It’s overwhelming A whisper breaks through the silence A vow to test the breathe of time Until forever I’ll be forever Yours Not just tonight I’m by your side For all your life Till death comes between us […]
Posh resurrection men
Posted by Charles The remains of horses and wooden chariots have been unearthed from a Zhou Dynasty tomb in Luoyang, Henan Province, China that dates back almost 3,000-years. The completed excavation unearthed four horse-and-chariot pits, dating back to as far as 770BC, and the pits have well-preserved evidence of bronze ware and ceramics from the […]
Shooting the messenger
Posted by Nicola Dela-Croix When I meet grieving families in my role as a celebrant, I always try hard not to judge them if their behaviour is less than polite. For example, the initial phone call where you gently introduce yourself, but are made to feel as welcome as a pre-recorded “Do not hang up… […]
Blessed are those who mourn
Posted by Charles Here’s a thing. RJ Scholes, funeral directors of Stamford in Lincolnshire, have bought a new hearse and a new limousine. So what, I hear you exclaim. What kind? I hear undertakers who read this blog enquire. Ans: Ford Fairlanes. Not all that classy, I wouldn’t have thought, mere Fords? It seems that […]
Planning for a happy death
posted by our religious correspondent Richard Rawlinson A recently widowed middle-aged woman came in tears to Benedictine monk Fr Christopher Jamison, and thanked him for explaining in a talk based on his book, Finding Happiness: Monastic Steps for a Fulfilling Life, what she had felt since her husband died. Fr Christopher had shared his thoughts on achieving a happy death, […]
Death in the community
Beyond the unappetising business of flogging pre-need plans to the tottering classes, undertakers do next to nothing to educate the public about funerals. They seek to be seen as public-spirited. They do good stunts, raise money for the hospice here, the air ambulance there. But how many stage events to raise awareness of the […]
Ask not for whom the bill tolls
Posted by our irreligious correspondent Jonathan Taylor Who is a funeral for? For the living, in the belief that the dead person won’t be there? For the dead, to help them into the afterlife? Or is it for both, so the living and the dead can do something for each other? At the very least, […]
Blackberry Stone
Posted by Sweetpea I am fascinated by those lesser explored emotions at funerals. When I visit a family, I carry poetry and music with me for those who are struggling to find expression. Of course, it’s comparatively easy to find things which talk about love in its more conventional forms – we are almost […]
Sob stories
Posted by Charles The misery memoir – awful childhood, frightful beatings, Oliver Twist never had it so good, that sort of stuff, ooh – has, it seems run its course. The torment vultures have flown the well-picked corpse and are now feasting on bereavement. I’ve been aware of growth of this new genre and largely ignored […]
