1 For all the saints, who from their labours rest,
all who by faith before the world confessed,
your name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Voice United 705
Last evening we sat outside to distribute candy to the costumed cuties coming to our door. It was so mild I was in a tee-shirt, a far cry from some Halloweens where we were trying to figure out how to get costumes over parkas when we lived in Sudbury decades ago.
It was All Hallow's Eve, a Celtic Druidic recognition of the "thin place" between this life and the next, coopted by Christians. Along with All Hallow's Eve the church celebrated All Saints (November 1) and All Souls (November 2).
This got me thinking about the exhibition, Death: Life's Greatest Mystery, which we attended at the Royal Ontaro Museum earlier this year. It was so popular on the free admission day that the line-up went down the block and well around the corner. At the time I wrote that it was fascinating to see families there, with parents explaining to children what they were seeing. A lot has been said about living in a death-denying culture, but not in this crowd.
Death is a profound mystery and a grim reality for all creatures. We do our best as humans to create rituals of meaning and as Christians we affirm our hope that because of Jesus' death and resurrection we are eternal beings. I've included a few images from the exhibition for your perusal. I quite like the notion of being buried in a death boat to take my on my final earthly voyage but I doubt my family could me convinced.
I wish we marked "The Day of the Dead" on this day as they do in Mexico when you go to a graveside, sit by the dead loved one, remember them, honour them and have an outdoor meal.-KB
ReplyDeleteIt would be good, Kathy, although maybe not at the end of October in our climate! Once upon a time lots of congregations held cemetery services in late May or June, although no picnics were involved, sadly. This tradition seems to be fading, along with so many others.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember the cemetery services. I can see the value in that practice though.
ReplyDeleteI'll venture that they were more popular in rural communities where cemeteries were often connected with specific congregations and there were local cemetery boards with members from those churches.
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