There are always occasions that involve joyous celebrations of important life events. We know them; some are special anniversaries, prize winnings, engagements, new babies, the special additions to our lives. And, within the last ten years or so, I have noticed an important life event that has definitely changed its tone from morbid to celebratory. This is the way we now view end-of-life gatherings.
...death is an honored closure...
As a minister I have conducted many funerals and memorials of people most beloved, and only within this last decade have we come to think of them as the revered and uplifting caps to an often quite extensive life. We have come to realize that death is an honored closure to a portion of our lives rather than a loss to be feared, something apart from the rest of our life. As the poets have noted, life and death are one; they belong together in the stream of our ongoing lives. To welcome the one but seek to avoid the other is to misunderstand greatly the importance of every second of our living experiences.
Funerals and memorials capture only a portion....
Many of us know this now because families and friends now hold Celebrations of Life Services as end-of-life events. We have come to feel that funerals and memorials capture only a portion of wonderful lives, often eliminating the natural joy that is always present when communities of love come together, even around a sad time.
...to weep together and also to laugh...
Celebration Services allow us to consider the loved one, to weep together, and also to laugh in remembrance of the funny sides of shared experiences. They help us to remember that while we may miss physical closeness, we may always keep memorable experiences close in our hearts. Celebrations allow everything to have meaning with nothing lost to morbidity and misgivings.
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