Let the Dead Bury Their Own Dead . . .

If you follow the news, even a wee bit, you know that Anna Nicole Smith was finally buried. (For how long, no one is sure!) After 3 weeks on being in cold storage, her corpse was finally given a funeral service and burial on a Caribbean Island.

I found it very interesting that all three “players” (the so-called husband, ex-boyfriend who claims to be the biological father of the baby, and the estranged mother) got up and said many kind and flowery words about the deceased. It started me thinking.

Why do people get up at funerals and say flattery things? Who does it benefit and should it be done? I gave this subject a lot of time in my mind last night while I was doing a marathon ironing session.

It seems to be the trendy thing, these days, to have two or more people (other than the minister) get up and eulogize the person on display. Many are family members who share fun memories of the person and what impact they’d had on the speaker’s life as well as the lives of others. Most of the words spoken are positive and complimentary. We put together Power Points showing a photo history of the deceased and sing emotional songs that make everyone cry.

Who is benefited by the funeral ceremony? The person who benefits the most, from the world’s perspective, if the under-taker! About the cheapest a person can get buried is $5000.00. I’m not sure if what’s cheaper: being born or dying! Florists glean some income from the purchase of flowers and plants.

The other beneficiaries of the funeral ceremony are the family and friends. The ceremony is designed to help make family feel better or “comforted” as most people would like to describe it. Some would say it helps bring “closure” whatever that means.

When we look to the Bible, we find that Jesus had few but strong words to say about funerals. Jesus only mentions burial of the dead one time. It’s listed in two of the Gospels but it is the same in both; “Let the dead bury their own dead.” (Matthew 8:22 and Luke 9:60).

Jesus spends more time telling his followers what to do for the “living” and not the dead. When I die, I don’t want anyone getting up saying kind things about me if they didn’t show me while I was alive. I need to hear kind words NOW, not after I’m gone. When I’m gone, I won’t be able to smell the flowers, hear the words, see the tears, or enjoy the laughter. Jesus tells his disciple Peter, “Feed my sheep!” He was talking about the breathing ones!

Maybe Anna Nicole would not be “resting” 6 feet under today if her family and friends had spent a little more time taking care of her instead of exploiting her for their own benefit. I guess we’ll never know and another soul is lost.