
Perhaps one of the most iconic rituals in every culture is the funeral; with the varying ways in which people mourn the loss of a loved one, and at the same time, commemorate his or her life. Without a funeral, it seems that the individual was deprived of the right to a smooth passage, or was dehumanized to some extent.
Let us deconstruct the ritual of a funeral. The ritual is hinged on the fact that death is irrevocable, and that no amount of rationalizing, or even self-delusion, can reverse the truth that the person can only live through memories. Across cultures, there is a notion of life beyond death, and the funeral is deemed to be one of the prerequisites for the person to cross over to the “after life.” Without such a ritual, there seems to be no closure for the dead; no transition between here nor there.
Because death is irreversible, the funeral home is also the venue for final farewells and vows to always remember. In the process of remembering, each testimony of a mother, a brother, a co-worker, or a person who was left behind, is important in painting a picture of the life of the individual. After all, what is worse than death is to be forgotten.
Each testimony – how I met him, how he snores loudly at night, how he used to steal and collect the forks and knives in every restaurant he eats in – reinforces the fact that the individual had a colorful life that was cut short. While every individual shares his or her own experience with the person who died, death becomes a permanent disruption, an unwelcome, fortuitous circumstance.
In the case of persons who led a long life and those who had long been resolved that they are accomplished in the life that they led; a funeral will serve to be their last celebration for their loved ones. After all, to live a long and fruitful life is not something to ashamed or be sad of, rather, the event of the passing of such person marks the end of the old and the beginning of the new generation. With it, we are saying that after our forebears have written their own page in history, with fortitude and excellence we will write ours. We all hope that someday we will be good enough to say our goodbye without regrets and misgivings to others.
For more information or funerals advice, please visit http://www.orthodoxfunerals.com.au/