Celebrating

This morning I tweeted about the difference between an Ordained Minister and a Professional Celebrant such as myself for a Funeral Service. The difference can be good or bad and depend on your outlook at the time.

There was a time when I would proudly wear the tag of Christian, now I think I am a God-ist. I'm not quite Jewish, but for some reason every time I go to a Christian funeral I come away less Christian.

When I go to a Funeral, which is rare as I am usually the one conducting the service as the Celebrant, I want to hear about the persons life. Not Christ's life.

There are elements of His, that I feel are endemically important to celebrating a persons life, and the hope of his resurrection is of course part of that as we can believe with all certainty that death is not the end.

Sadly most funerals conducted by Ministers of Religion seem to dwell so much on the God-like that the person who has attracted sometimes 100s of people to hear about their life is left out. Left in a nice, shiny, wooden casket with an expensive array of fresh flowers, photos and memorabilia on the top. It's personal and yet completely impersonal at the same time.

The services I do are all about the person, their family and their friends. I make people laugh and cry and I use special poems and readings from all manner of sources to do that. And not once have I used Psalm 23 which is one of the most depressing pieces of literature I have ever heard.

I am not for one minute saying that people should not use these readings, or have religious services. I am 100% "to each their own" and everyone should make up their own minds and have their own opinions.

Perhaps a little time discussing these pointy stick items with those around us while we are alive would be a huge help for the Celebrant when it comes time to organise the big event.

Something to think about so that when we have our own funerals, people will sit back afterwards and say "Love it"