By Linton P. Gordon
Over the years, a funeral has become an extremely expensive ‘function’ for the survivors and loved ones of a deceased person. In days gone by, the deceased person would be kept at his home and his body would be preserved by his survivors and loved ones placing ice on his body until it was time to bury him. The coffin or casket in which he was buried was made by carpenters in the community, usually from cedar wood that was stored for the purpose of making coffins.
The grave was dug through community effort and the only expense that the loved ones of the deceased would face would be the cost of providing white rum and food to the men digging the grave. The pastor at the church would not charge for conducting the service but would do it freely and the only kick back he would receive was the collection made at the funeral. Thus there were less funeral homes and it was a rare event for persons to go to a funeral parlour to purchase an expensive casket. The design for the graves or tombs was a simple one and was usually made from cut stone, gathered through community effort.
We have now moved from that and we are now at the stage where a funeral is an elaborate and expensive function which is used to measure the wealth of the family from which the deceased came. Several poor members of our society put themselves under exceptional stress to have a funeral for their love one to shows that he was not a poor man.
The casket has to be a huge edifice with metal handles attached. The design has to be an item of ostentation. In some instances the casket is conveyed to the cemetery in an open top chariot with the loved ones seated in the chariot behind the casket. The deceased must be dressed in the most expensive clothing with several items of jewellery stashed around his neck, on his hand and, in the case of females, on her ankles.
Persons attending the funeral must dress in the latest and the skimpiest of dress. This is their way of showing respect for the deceased. The crying in the church and at the grave site should be no ordinary crying. It has to be bawling, wailing, groaning and a display of excitement which, on some occasions, cause suspicion that the bawlers are really happy that the deceased is gone and are acting and putting on a show.
NOBODY KNOWS
Some graves are designed like planes, motor bikes, ships and cars. This is usually done to show what was the deceased’s favourite item of wealth, while he was in this life.Despite all the opinion from religious leaders, nobody has any absolute and certain explanation for what happens to a person after death. The modern day mourners are not taking any chance. They now bury persons with food items and with money. This is not new as the Egyptians did a similar thing when burying the kings in the pyramids and so did the Mayans in Central and South America.It is a waste of resources for a family to gather together most of their resources and expend them on the funeral of a departed loved one. No matter how big and sophisticated the funeral is, no matter how elaborate and beautiful the casket is, if according to Christian theology, the deceased is not going to heaven then he is on his way to hell.
Likewise, no matter how cheap the casket, or how simple the funeral, if the deceased at the time of his death was compliant with the Christian principles then he is gone to heaven. With this in mind we should all aim at having a simple, dignified and fairly short funeral. Instead of spending all we have on a funeral we should keep the resources to be used to advance the interests of those loved ones of the deceased who remain on earth.
FOOTNOTE:
Some funeral services are oppressively long. They usually have a multiplicity of long and boring tributes, several of which are repetitive of what previous tributes contain. No matter how many tributes are given for the deceased, it will not change anything. Either he is gone to hell or he is gone to heaven.It is an act of insensitivity to have persons sitting on churches, usually on hard wooden benches for up to four hours listening to long and drawn out tributes and sermons.The bereaved family and the pastor should be considerate and should instead complete the funeral service within a reasonable time thereby alleviating the suffering of the congregation; especially members who travelled from far. 
