Death has been in the news rather a lot this week. Three particular stories caught the Mouse's eye. First up was Fr Ed Tomlinson who moaned about being dragged to the crematorium where the deceased were 'popped in the oven with no hope of redemption'. Whilst he wasn't entirely happy with the coverage that his comments had received by the media, he was making a sensible point about people's attitude to death.
Fr Tomlinson wrote, 'I have then stood at the Crem like a lemon, wondering why on earth I am present at the funeral of somebody led in by the tunes of Tina Turner, summed up in pithy platitudes of sentimental and secular poets and sent into the furnace with ‘I did it my way’ blaring out across the speakers!'
The second story was summed up nicely by top blogging bishop Alan Wilson in the Guardian's Comment is Free. Facebook are to offer their users the opportunity to have their page turned into a memorial to them after their death. The idea is that the Facebook page has updates frozen and annoying games turned off, but that friends and family can continue to post updates on the deceased user's wall.
Facebook have probably come up with this idea off the back of many instances of this happening without their planning. Internet savvy mourners found a way of sharing their grief in a poignant way through the internet, and Facebook are catching up.
Story number three is that Wall Mart have started selling coffins in the US. The budget retailer is offering coffins starting at around £540. They can be purchased online and will be dispatched within 24 hours.
Adding these things up we get a rather frightening picture of death in the future. It is often commented that the Church doesn't really talk about death any more. Perhaps we should.
I finished writing my funeral service just over 6 months ago. This deferring death stuff just makes the whole letting go someone else's problem rather than something creative - a kind of ministry to those you love (and that's not a 'voice from beyond the grave' comment). I think getting my service sorted out is actually my responsibility which means that the experiences and feelings of everyone you love have to be addressed as worship, not as a botched up mish mash of other people's second hand guess work. I highly commend the exercise. It is quite extraordinary what it throws up about what you feel about other people and how you feel about yourself. And for goodness sake let people know where to find the Order of Service. So, my advice? Just do it and get on with the rest of your life!
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