This week's topic is - Ghosts.
I can not ever remember being afraid of ghosts. Maybe it was growing up LDS, but the life beyond and those who occupy it hold no fear or even strange fascination for me. Luckily, Rebecca said - no limit, no suggestions, no restrictions and I think I will be straying far from what anyone else will be writing about.
This is what I thought of when I saw the topic (this is the condensed version) -
Ghosts=dead people=thoughts of death=some of my funeral pet peeves
Yep, are you ready? Here comes my rant and rave about funerals.
First, I DO NOT want to be embalmed! I read recently what they do to you and it really upset me. And really, why is it necessary? Just to give people one more chance to see my face? That is what photographs are for. I think embalming is just temporary taxidermy. Don't you think it would be disrespectful to take your loved one and have them stuffed to keep in your living room for a few years so that you can have "closure"? What is the difference between that and having them embalmed (stuffed for a few days)? I feel that what they do to bodies to embalm them is disrespectful. If people really what to see me they can come visit me before I die.
Which bring me to my next pet peeve. When I die I would like to have it admitted that I DIED, not PASSED, thank you very much. Death is supposed to be painful. My mother went through a lot of pain to bring me into this world, why do we deny the pain the dead person and their loved ones go through? Jesus Christ overcame the pains of death. I think when we minimize with our euphemisms the reality of death, we minimize His sacrifice and triumph. Maybe I am wrong in my take on this. I would love to hear what you think.
7 comments:
I love that you got to rant about death. Funny but insightful. I think I probably agree with you though I haven't given it much thought. But like you, I'm not all that interested in seeing someone dead...closed casket works for me.
Actually, I don't mind looking at other embalmed people, I just don't want to be embalmed so that they can look at me. I've even thought about looking into deep freezing for a couple of days so that I won't stink when they bury me four days after I die to give the out of town people time to get to my funeral (I'm assuming someone will want to come :) ).
Embalming is quite gross. When my grandmother died about 1 1/2 ago, my sisters,mother and I all had the opportunity to get her ready for her funeral. It was very hard seeing her dead and almost fake-like after embalming. Not to be descriptive but embalmed people are squishy. I had a really hard time touchy her because I got freaked out a litte. I love you Grandma!!!
So what's the alternative to embalming? Either you look frosted over because you are frozen (or melting, with freezer burn), or you are bloated up like a balloon because of the natural processes of decomposition? Or...oh yeah -- closed casket. Then everyone can imagine that you are frosted over, freezer burned or bloated...or embalmed.
I might as well be fodder for imagination right before I am fodder for the worms :)
When Beethoven passed away, he was buried in a churchyard. A couple days later, the town drunk was walking through the cemetery and heard some strange noise coming from the area where Beethoven was buried. Terrified, the drunk ran and got the priest to come and listen to it. The priest bent close to the grave and heard some faint, unrecognizable music coming from the grave. Frightened, the priest ran and got the town magistrate.
When the magistrate arrived, he bent his ear to the grave, listened for a moment, and said, "Ah, yes, that's Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, being played backwards."
He listened a while longer, and said, "There's the Eighth Symphony, and it's backwards, too. Most puzzling." So the magistrate kept listening; "There's the Seventh... the Sixth... the Fifth..."
Suddenly the realization of what was happening dawned on the magistrate; he stood up and announced to the crowd that had gathered in the cemetery, "My fellow citizens, there's nothing to worry about. It's just Beethoven decomposing."
Ha Ha Ha!
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