JMJ
November 19,2010
People all over the North know that John’s mother has passed away. What they do not understand is why we are not heading South to go West to the funeral. If we said, which is true, that we have no money for such a trip they would find that incomprehensible. Surely when people give us money for less important things such as fuel for the school and food for camps that someone or some people would give us money to attend our mother’s funeral. What would be even more incomprehensible is that we are not going to the funeral because there is no funeral in which to go.
Thus is one of the biggest and growing scandals of the south and southerners ( the non- north and the non- northerners.): a disregard, contempt, disdain for the elderly, dying and the dead. John was not told that his 91 year old mother was hospitalised with a broken pelvis for two and a half weeks. Then we were told by a quick e- mail. Sometimes people really are too busy to get on to the computer everyday but usually answer phone calls.
Her body will be cremated in a few hours or days. We will never be able to view her remains to give her our love . We will never be able to visit her grave which marks the resting place and home of her remains, her personal relics. There is no grave. There are no remains, not even powder in a little box. John is the eldest in this family of four children and our children are seven of her nine grandchildren. Our grandchildren are her only great grandchildren but we have no clout nor authority to stop this .
They claim there will be a “ Celebration of Life” in which at some convenient ( to them) date a few will gather from the area and say some nice things.. something more appropriate at one hour of a wake. The way to celebrate life is to respect the dead and to affirm the resurrection of the body through a funeral and a grave. Of course funerals are inconvenient. They always are . Death wasn’t in God’s original plan and death always hurts. We stop our schedules, our work, our holidays and hobbies to do what is necessary and right to share the suffering and inconvenience of others. The acceptance of the inconvenience is part of the due respect for the dead.
The” turn’m to dust and let her fly” programme IS convenient for murderers, corrupt governments, and selfish, resentful relatives. Every time people reject a funeral with a body in favour of cremation, unwittingly or otherwise they are giving evil people a tool and acceptance for covering up crime and even genocide. No respect for the dying and the dead is just part of the push for euthanasia whether people realise it or not.
When my brother died we were not told until AFTER he was cremated. We were told that the Canadian Space Agency didn’t have money to allow us go to a little non- God service at noon hour. Then we were told that two of a family of eleven plus, plus have decided that they felt “closure.” so there will be no funeral . This was done so that we would not discover our responsibilities, rights and resources according to my brother’s wishes. Get rid of the tradition, and the rules of respect for the dead and you have a tool for cruelty and theft, in this case with help from government officials of that proclaimed Most Corrupt Province, Quebec.
These are our stories. How many similar stories are out there? The only cremation service of which we know in the North was obvious to many, a cover up of a suspected murder, claimed suicide. The police didn’t stop evidence being destroyed.
There are many things wrong in the North as there are elsewhere. One thing is very right and that is the respect and traditions of wakes and funerals. Keep the practice going. The rest of the country needs your example. The last line of the Creed is “ I believe in,...and the resurrection of the body.” We are to have funerals to affirm that, just as cremations are and were pushed to deny that. Gay
Visit John Caswell's Blog of Thomas a Kempis http://kempus-help-us.blogspot.com
