Ambivalence 1
Interesting, isn’t it, how two contrary opinions need not be mutually exclusive? When one opinion does not displace the other you’re left either tonguetied with indecision or, if they merge, ambivalent. Ambivalence may be seen as fence-sitting, but I think that’s simplistic. To honour two opposed points of view equally seems to me to be […]
Words, words, words
Following my post about the ineptitude and ineffectiveness of words, I stumbled on this piece in the Sydney Morning Herald. It’s actually about citizenship ceremonies, but you’d never guess it from the way I’ve plucked the extracts: Traditionally, ritual, including rites of passage, is embedded in our religious culture. And it is true that religion […]
The ineptitude and ineffectiveness of words
Interesting, thought provoking piece about Irish funerals in today’s Irish Times. The writer, Marie Murray, makes this observation: The extent of funeral attendance in Ireland often bemuses our neighbours in England. She says: Funeral attendance is a statement of connection, care, compassion and support. It encircles those who grieve and enriches those who attend because […]
And what did you want?
There’s a sprightly piece about funerals in this week’s Spectator. Its content is not available free online, so I’ll transcribe the best bits and hope that I’m not infringing copyright but, rather, advertising the magazine. It’s by James Delingpole. If I’d written a film it would have been called Four Funerals and a Wedding, because […]
More than just a matter of tone
This is an interesting blog post. Here’s a taster: What I hate most at funerals is the tone used by the officiant (almost wrote: the presiding officer). No matter what the religious faith may be, the person in front of the congregation speaks as if he knew … I think it’s the tone of voice […]
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 […]
Thomas G Long
An interview with Thomas G. Long, author of Accompany Them With Singing – The Christian Funeral. from Westminster John Knox Press on Vimeo. Thomas G Long here, one of this blog’s great heroes. Though he comes at funerals from a Christian viewpoint, most of his ideas have a universal application. He talks about the growing […]
Different cultures, different customs
Phero Tran Tieu’s Funeral from Joseph Pham on Vimeo.
Why do atheists have dead bodies at funerals?
The question Can you have a funeral without a body? is not as useful as the question Why would you have a dead body at a funeral? Yes, yes, you can’t have a wedding or a civil partnership without the happy couple, and you can’t have a baby naming without a baby, so how can […]
Too good to be real
I have tried, in the Good Funeral Guide, not to cover topics already dealt with by others. Instead, I have incorporated lots of signposts to best sources of information and best archives of resources – poems, music, ceremony ideas. There’s lots of stuff out there about eulogies, most of it guff. But TheFuneralSite has some […]
