Not long ago my son told me of a cemetery that is on one of the most haunted cemeteries list in South Carolina and so naturally, I wanted to check it out myself. The first thing I asked him was, “Did you sense anything while you were there?” He said, “No, but I want to go back at night.” My reply was, “Take me with you.” We haven’t done it yet.
The cemetery was abandoned many years ago after the adjacent church burned to its foundation. With a little investigating, property records show it is presently owned by a private enterprise, namely one of the real estate moguls in the area. Which makes me wonder what will eventually happen to the property, and the remains of those buried there. I didn’t sense anything while I climbed over briars and decaying trees, except for an overpowering sadness that the gravestones held the names of many prominent families of the late 1800’s and were forgotten. Two of the graves were ravaged of the contents, headstones smashed and were crumbled, sunken in dirt under years of decay foliage. Many of the graves were children under ten years old, and my thoughts drifted to a time when a high percentage of children died from communicable diseases with a speed and virulence that amazes us today. There were no transcriptions left on most headstones except a small indentation here and there of a partial name or year. A weathered stone to indicate a resting place only marked many more graves. 
You’re probably thinking where is this leading, is this blog about haunted places and abandoned cemeteries? Well, it’s neither. A question arose in a conversation with a friend a while back, and more recently, the same discussion was the topic of the evening. The question being, “Do you want to be cremated or buried when you pass away?” My answer was to be cremated. This upset my friend who came back with this, “My family buries the dead, and we also take burial pictures in the coffin which to some may seem disrespectful, but for us it is historical documentation. To just destroy Gods work in the burial process seems so wrong…”
I disagreed with my friend. I pointed out that I believe it depends on cultures where burying is normal, people bury their dead. In other cultures, they cremate them. Being buried or cremated is a personal decision. The Bible shows that Joseph had his father embalmed. (Gen. 50:2, 3) Jesus was bound with bandages with spices, as was Jewish custom. (John 19:40) The important thing to me is that the custom does not go against any of the Bible's teachings. After all, no matter what method one uses to dispose of the dead, we can all hope to see them again in the resurrection. (1 Thessalonians 4:13) “Moreover, brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant concerning those who are sleeping in death; that you may not sorrow just as the rest also do who have no hope.”
As a Christian, I know that when someone dies, they cease to exist. "His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish." Ps. 146:4; "The dead ...are conscious of nothing at all." (Eccl. 9:5) Many people believed that the destruction of the body by fire was the thought that it made the resurrection of the body impossible. Resurrection is the accountability to God... "Every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Rom. 14:12). "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Gal. 6:7). "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27). Our bodies are just vessels given to us in hopes of spreading God's word and help humanity, but as for the dead "they are conscious of nothing at all . . . Their love and their hate and their jealousy have already perished . . . There is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol [mankind’s common grave], the place to which you are going." (Eccl. 9:5,6,10)
I showed my friend a picture I took of a tree that grows on the grounds of the Santa Barbara Mission in California. It completely unnerved me the first time I saw it. It's massive trunk and branches are ashen in color and smooth as skin. There were no birds that landed or nested within its branches. It grows in the middle of the courtyard behind the church taking nourishment from the thousands of remains buried underneath, all missionaries, priests, nuns, and Cardinals of the Catholic religion. I asked my friend, “Is this the biological life you feel goes on being part of the earth?” To which I answered my own question, “My ashes, whether they are buried (per my wishes) on Mackinaw Island or thrown to the wind, will move on because they are still part of the world we live in. Who knows, maybe I will provide nourishment for one of God’s creatures…thus, my life will go on as well.” I ended my sermon.
During the last days of my mother's life before cancer completely ravaged her mind and body, we talked about this subject often. I told mom I was afraid to die. I abhorred the idea that worms and insects would ravage my body. After telling her my fears, I listened to her and her views on death and everlasting life. She was content to leave her cancer-ridden body to know she would share in the resurrection of the righteous. And because of that faith and teachings from the Bible, she was freed from the trepidation of dying. I am not afraid of dying because of what she taught me. It was the last gift she had given me and today that "spirit" lives within me. It’s helped me move on to be the example of the human being God wanted us to be. We should not continue to grieve, we should rejoice in the lessons our parents taught us, that we might teach and love others.
Peace…
6 comments:
as always, very well thought out and written! Bless you for your quotes and perception on this issue!
I don't agree with cremation, it too closely resembles the anology of "lake of fire" the terminus of unrepentant souls, and besides your ashes may be mingled with others with careless funeral directors and facilities, some of you may even be residual in the flue chimney. HA! don't do it , we are different that waste being incinerated for "disposal", we are ascentioned beings ( although few act like it anymore) and our existance should be revered and honored.
How about this, imagine that God selects souls to inhabit new bodies being created in the unique honor of experiencing what being a living mortal is like, and it is his test that if lived well and accepting His ultimate authority that a soul will reunite with him and his glory when this life is finished. This vessel, so repeated as "the temple" of God, should be burned and destroyed? I think that the evil serpent has placed this idea of cremation of being acceptable is another way to mock God and his power of creation. Another deception , like telling Eve "surely you will not die" in the garden.
I too see old headstones and think upon them for a while and wonder if their lives seemed as futile and lonely as all us feel at times, or as fulfilling and purposeful as we often wish ours would reflect to ourselves when we feel abandoned or discouraged. It is these feelings that remind me that there is a God , and not just some mental play game of surperstition and ritual that keeps us thinking of an allignment with cosmic forces.
"This is awesome Monica and you could not have said it better...."
Thank you, this answered a few questions concerning a conversation I had with my spouse about my own wishes when I pass. We disagree like you and your friend have. I'm going to have him read your post.
Hey girlfriend...a very interresting read, but I will not comment on it. To me this is a subject that has no right or wrong to it. It is all up to the person's own belief's, needs and wants. But I will give you my personal view on the whole thing.
The body...a place for to hold the soul/spirit that God has intrusted me with. I have abused it, used it, pushed it to it's limit a few times. I have starved it of foods to be thin. I have over indulged it with drink tring to forget. I have worked it to the point of bruises...sweat till I thought I would dry up. I have pampered my body with warm soaks, lotions, perfums that have made heads turn. Paint my nails, color my hair...all to make this body look a bit better. I have broken bones, sprains, cuts, tape and stitch's.
I have dressed it up, I have dressed it down. Have marked with a tatoo's, cover the face with the make up I love so much. Adorned it in jewlery. I have a times worked it to the point of total numnous, to only wake in the morning and do it all over again.
I fill my lungs with smoke, and pump my blood full of caffine.
All these things and oh so much more, but yet my soul stays with in me. Always there, always at the ready to comfort me.
My soul was made exspecally for me. Intrusted to me by God. To do with what I need to do. And what I need to do is really very simple and that being this...to live as best I can, do what I feel is right. I am not perfect...(what an understatement)...lol
but I don't feel I'm headed for hell either. I take great pleasure in doing/helping for someone. I relish in my grandchildren. I miss my family that I have lost, but my "soul" lets me visit them. I miss my husband, but again, I am aloud to visit.
My soul wonders...but at the same time never leaves me. Buried or cremated...for me there is no difference. "dead is dead"...I will seese to breath, no more tears, no more laugher, no more lonely, no more of anything that I do in the here and now that so definds me. My soul will leave this body, and rise to be with God. The body be left behind to dry up, rot, and turn to dust...no longer needed or useful. It will return to the earth, given back to where it came. Buried or creamated...it will once again become dust in the wind. Unemportant and no longer useful.
Personally...I will be creamated.
God won't care about this body, he will however smile to see the soul of someone who loves/trusts him with all her heart.
One last thing. If I were of years ago, I would be buried, raised off the ground, wrapped in my blanket with a few things of importance with me, face uncovered, facing the sky. Face to face with the "Great Spirit". The weather, birds, the wild things that roam the earth would take care of the body...that unemportant flesh, and my soul would soar to the heavens...and I would start anew...
I thank you all for your comments. This is natural occurance that is inevitable to all living creatures. Everyone may not all agree based on our culture or beliefs. The last comment said it best,"this is a subject that has no right or wrong to it. It is all up to the person's own belief's, needs and wants." It was clear to me this person is a descendant of Native American's and I thank you for sharing the beliefs of your culture.
Post a Comment