The other day, two of my close friends posed an intriguing question.
They asked me to write a piece about burial versus cremation. That might have been a sign that they are starting to think about the choice for theirselves?
We all have to take some important decisions on our way through this time-space life, but this is one decision which we tend to put off making: when the intangible energy has had the call, has upped and left the corpus, what should happen to the remains?
Now, some folks get a bit bristly about this subject, since to admit to the existence of a supreme organising power at the heart of what is still a wonderful world, places on each man or woman the burden of belief.
CS Lewis said of his own decision “Christians are wrong, but all the rest are bores” which was to discount, if not to dishonour, other aspects of faith in an afterlife. Now, having travelled all around the globe (now there’s a divisive word!), having seen many other levels of belief and commitment, it’s the writer’s own view that it is a supreme arrogance to think that any one view should rule or denigrate the others.
So, in deciding, in a western society, where the ‘Roman’ system has pushed itself to the top of the pile, whether it is better to BURY or to BURN an uninhabited carcase, there is, in my heart, only one main factor and that’s about RESPECT for the one who’s passed.
At one time, those who had a pot full of gold coins which they wanted to see later tended to hide them and either know, or leave instructions, where such could be found.
On the other hand, religious dogma has been so damaging to the human mind that, when our fellow-Yorkie, John Wycliffe’s [qv] corpse was buried in the 15th century, the spiritual ‘leaders’ of that day were so full of hatred for what Wycliffe had done by exposing to the ‘common people’ the real meanings behind their occult Roman liturgy, that his remains were later dug up, burned and the ashes thrown into the nearby River Swift.
Putting this vehicle into second gear, why do we find, in this romanized western world, a preference for burning over burial? Some might say that, if the spirit is gone, what does that matter?
Burial: A burial does give those left with this final decision the important option of control. The relatives and friends can see the lifeless shell placed in a coffin of some kind, we can see that coffin closed, we can travel with it to a suitable place of burial, be that a ‘faith-based’ or an ‘agnostic’ (Greek – not sure) source and see it placed into a prepared slot.
Cremation: This method of disposal presents the writer with a problem. Simply put, when the eulogies have all been said and sung, when the button is pressed, as the coffin passes through the curtain, how do we know, really, what happens after that? The utterly cynical among us will ask, do we even know if the coffin itself is burned? How can we know that the urn, which many want to have later either to keep or to scatter the ashes of the deceased, are, actually, the ashes of a dad, a mum, a brother or a sister?
What evidence do we have as to the choice – BURN or BURY?
In the old covenant writings, the Christian world is told of two or three who seem to have had the luxury of instant teleporting to a higher state of being. There are also clear suggestions that putting the casket into the ground does not enclose the spirit, since some spirits are said to have revisited, or been summoned, to guide those who are still on active service.
There is even a documentary account of an innocent Jewish Carpenter being very publicly shamed and slain who yet, after three full days in a tomb, appeared in several different places at separate times of day, to discuss ongoing matters with his ‘fans’
On one such visit, the character seems to have been able to pass, in a solid tangible body, through a solid wall (Harry Potter and Platform 9 3/4 (?) comes to mind). This ‘resurrected’ being is said to have described his ongoing ‘body’ as having flesh and bones (although NOT blood) and yet, like our humble Hobbit Frodo, able to appear or disappear at his own choice.
Now, all that may, to the sceptics, be seen as mere marketing balderdash, but that point of view leaves the writer here with the nagging question: ‘Would anyone, having made-up such a unique selling point, (USP) be ready to suffer a dreadful painful death themselves as punishment for what their executors thought, and they in their heart knew, was a LIE?
Which reminds me, I must call in to make sure there’s still room for a local lad’s eventual remains in the Golcar cemetery.
So, my two dear friends, if my choice for burial (it’s in my last will) is of any help, I’ll look forward to seeing you both on the other side.
Let’s hope y’all have a good day, enjoy the best life, and may you have an honourable passing, when your time finally comes
Sent to you with peace and love..
troy grant-andrew – livingstone in the family smith
LIVING STONES 