A party for a parting
Jonathan posted an interesting thought the other day: “if no-one had portrayed the pseudovictoriana we associate with funerals, can you think of anyone who would have invented it for themselves?.” It raises the question: if we were to start again with a clean sheet, how would we do them? It’s a big question. Do funerals […]
No service by request
One more go at Canada’s Times Colonist. A rich seam, this. There are 13 obits in the paper. Of those, 3 opt for no service; 3 opt for a celebration of life (I’m not sure exactly what that is, but at least one of them’s not a funeral); 4 opt for a memorial service; and […]
The great reveller
A Christian funeral proclaims the fierce, happy truth that ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’. As Christians see it, Sin corrupts and depraves, Death annihilates and nullifies. Both are the spawn of Satan, who is Evil, the mortal (lit) enemy of God who is Good and, the theology goes, the victor in the end. It’s […]
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 […]
