Hollowing out hallowed ground
Some interesting reflections here on humankind’s relationship with the dead human body and the forces of nature. I especially enjoyed the observation that the prairie dogs happily digging in this cemetery are no respecters of social status: they have even dug up a state governor. What deplorable absence of deference so far down the food chain! Hat-tip […]
In the midst of life…
Following on from the last two days’ posts, here’s another on the same theme. It’s a story in today’s Sunday Telegraph. Sorry, no link, they don’t seem to have archived it yet. Residents near a funeral parlour in Tonbridge, Kent, claim they are being made miserable because covered bodies are wheeled on trollies past […]
Last-chance snap
Sweet story here from Georgia, USA recounted in the Monticello News: A cousin of mine, Larry Lynch, was in college with a young man from deep south Georgia in the “piney woods” section of our state. The young man told of the death of his grandfather several years back. When grandfather died the neighbors […]
Looking like death
Most people don’t reckon to look their best when they’re dead, but this was not how the status conscious citizens of Palermo in Italy saw it. Starting in 1599 the Capuchin friars were mummified or embalmed, then displayed, standing, in the catacombs beneath their friary. The idea appealed to the wealthy citizens of Palermo, who […]
Dicky tikka
THE proprietor of an Indian restaurant next-door to a proposed funeral parlour is concerned the development will turn diners off their pappadums and vindaloo. We see a lot of stories like this revealing how disconnected death is from life. It’s why the bereaved feel so disconnected from the living. If there is one truly […]
Spooky
Here’s a synopsis for an upcoming movie, After.Life at imdb.com. “After a horrific car accident, Anna (Christina Ricci) wakes up to find the local funeral director Eliot Deacon (Liam Neeson) preparing her body for her funeral. Confused, terrified, and feeling still very much alive, Anna doesnt believe shes dead, despite the funeral director’s reassurances […]
Death and dumb
Over in Austria an undertaker, urged by his PR people, parks his hearse at a blackspot in order to deter sloppy driving. The hearse bears the gloating message: ‘We’re always ready for you.’ The object? Driver sees it, thinks ‘That’s jolly clever,’ slows down and uses that undertaker next time she needs one. Win-win. Read […]
Letting go
Obachan Funeral 2008 from Steven S Friedman on Vimeo. There’s a thought provoking post over at Mindfulness and Mortality about the role of the body at a funeral. Among many other interesting ideas, blogger Gloriamundi articulates this: Somehow, people have to let a body go. It’s very difficult to do, because the life of the […]
Thing or person?
I was called to perform an emergency Taharah – the ritual cleansing and preparation of a body for burial. I was the rabbi of a large congregation, and although I had participated in Taharot in this funeral home, I had never been summoned for an “emergency Taharah.” The manager of the funeral home, a friend, […]
Different cultures, different customs
Phero Tran Tieu’s Funeral from Joseph Pham on Vimeo.
