Funeral

Today I was privileged to be part of a funeral. One of the things I find fascinating about funerals is some of the practices that we do. We have traditions I am sure most people are not even aware of. Even if they have been to lots of funerals they may not be aware of some of the communities traditions.
Today I learned about a tradition we do when we bury people. Now I have known that we bury people with their feet facing east. This is because the bible tells us that Jesus will come in the east. And when he comes those who have died in Christ will be resurrected. Having our feet facing east means that we will be raised facing him.
The tradition I learned about today is that the husband is always buried to the north of his wife. This is so that man will shelter his wife from the cruel north wind.
Interesting traditions.

Hands

Over the last couple of days I have been walking with a family as they planned a funeral. Abe, a husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather, died last week. His funeral was today. I was privileged and honored to walk alongside the family in this time.
When I saw the body of Abe his hands drew my attention. They were peacefully folded on his lap. His wedding ring clear for all to see (he was married for 63 years...what an amazing testimony). As I looked at his hands I realized that these hands held the hands of his grandfather (possibly even his great grandfather). That this man walked and held hands with people who lived in the 1800s. He is a link to our past.
Then I saw his young great grandson. Looking at him I realized that this young boy (the lord willing) will hold hands with people who will walk 2100s. He is our link to the future.
We truly are tied to our past and to our future.

Coffin

My friend Dan just emailed me plans for building my own coffin. Just to be clear it was not a death threat (at least I don't think it was). We have been having an on going conversation about death and funerals. We took a course together in fall about death.
Now I have to say before I go any further I have great deal of respect for funeral directors. The funeral director that we have in our town is great - he is kind, compassionate and is a blessing to the families that are grieving. So this is not an attack on him, rather these are thoughts about funerals in general.

Why do I need a fancy coffin? Why padded cushions? I don't plan to use the coffin until I am dead - so must likely I won't mind lying on plain old wood. If I get buried then the coffin is just going to be buried in the ground, where it (and my body) will decompose. Now I don't have exact numbers but I have heard that a basic coffin can cost hundreds of dollars. What are we paying for?

Tony Campolo wrote a book called 20 Hot Potatoes Christians are Afraid to Touch. One of his chapters is called "Are funerals a rip off?" Very thought provoking. I want to quote a small part. He is talking about his experience as a pastor.
"I worked hard to dissuade an economically pressed widow not to buy a foam rubber mattress for her dead husband, in spite of the undertaker's claim that the mattress would be providing a comfortable rest for the corpse for all eternity. I also balked when this same undertaker tried to sell the widow an expensive airtight vault for her husband's casket which was 'guaranteed to keep him dry.'"

With all of this in mind I decided perhaps I should build my own coffin. Actually I am not very handy (and not sure where I would put it - a toy box for the kids might look a little twisted) so I asked one of friends to make me a coffin if I die any time soon.