The social, psychological and emotional benefits of authentic funerals far outweigh their financial costs. Besides, a funeral needn’t be lavishly expensive to be meaningful.
When someone loved dies, we need to be sad. Funerals provide us with a safe place in which to embrace our pain.
On the contrary, meaningful funeral ceremonies are civilized, social binding rituals. Some people think that viewing the body is barbaric. Cultural differences aside, viewing has many benefits for survivors.
Taking a few hours out of your week to demonstrate your love for the person who died and your support for survivors is not an inconvenience but a privilege.
Not necessarily. Depending on local regulations, funerals held shortly after the death may require no special means of preservation.
A funeral (with or without the body present) may be held prior to cremation. Embalmed bodies are often cremated.
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 survivor’s mourning needs.
They needn’t be. With forethought and planning, funerals can and should be personalized rituals reflecting the uniqueness of the bereaved family.
While pre-planning your funeral may help you reconcile yourself to your own mortality, funerals are primarily for the benefit of the living.
Anyone old enough to love is old enough to mourn. Children, too, have the right and the privilege to attend funerals.
New Hampshire Funeral
Directors Association
PO Box 522
Keene, NH 03431