Funeral Misconceptions
Funerals
are too expensive. The social, psychological
and emotional benefits of authentic funerals far outweigh their
financial costs. Besides, a funeral need not be lavishly expensive
to be meaningful.
Funerals
make us too sad. When someone loved dies, we need
to be sad. Funerals provide us with a safe place in which to emgrace
our pain.
Funerals
are barbaric. On the contrary,
meaningful funeral ceremonies are civilized, socially binding
rituals. Some people think that viewing the body is barbaric.
Cultural differences aside, viewing has many benefits for survivors.
Funerals
are inconvenient. Taking a few hours of
your week to demonstrate your love for the person who died and
your support for survivors is not an inconvenience but a privilege.
Funerals
and cremation are mutually exclusive. A
funeral (with or without the body present) may be held prior to
cremation. Embalmed bodies are often cremated.
Funerals
are only for religious people.
Not true. Non-religious ceremonies (which, by the way, need
not be held in a church or officiated by a clergy person) can
still meet the survivors mourning needs.
Funerals
are rote and meaningless. They need not
be. With forethought and planning, funerals can and should be
personlized rituals reflecting the uniquesness of the bereaved
family.
Funerals
should reflect what the dead person wanted. While
pre-plannign your funeral may help you reconcile yourself to your
own mortality, funerals are primarily for the benefit of the living.
Funerals
are only for grown-ups. Anyone old enough to love
is old enough to mourn. Children, too, have the right and the
privilege to attend funerals.
Printed with permission from the Oregon Funeral Directors Association
