“My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver—what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” (Genesis 23:15)
One of the guarantees in life is that at some point we will die or have to bury someone we love. I haven't yet had to be in charge of funeral arrangements for my parents or my nuclear family, but it will happen eventually.
I believe my parents have written down what they want, and we've had some conversations around where they want their cremains to go. Both are being cremated. Hopefully they've also planned out what hymns they want at their service, since they are both active in church.
I know as a priest planning a service is easier when the person being celebrated has given it some thought ahead of time. One less thing for a family to have to worry about while they are grieving.
Yet this isn't always the case, because talking about death is hard and many of us would rather talk about almost anything else. I know that I haven't totally thought out my service. I know that I want to be cremated. I know where my cremains should go. I have some hymn thoughts. I also know that if I have any salvageable organs they can be taken before I'm sent to the crematorium.
I do think having a plan is important. Abraham had to get into a negotiation when Sarah died. If we plan ahead for what is going to happen at some point, we are helping those who continue on their earthly pilgrimage without us to not be so overwhelmed.
Blessings,
Ed
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