X-Message-Number: 3400 Date: Fri, 11 Nov 1994 17:08:21 -0500 (EST) From: Subject: SCI.CRYONICS The Funeral Part 2 date sent: 11-NOV-1994 17:02:44 n unique sequence or process. (1) Removal (2) Visitation (3) The Funeral Rite (4) The procession (5) Committal REMOVAL. Once a death has occurred and has been officially pronounced, the first event is to remove the body of the deceased from among the living. This happens whether death occurs in a private home, hospital, or whatever. This is a change from the customs of three or four generations ago. Now, because most deaths occur in hospitals and institutions (70-90%, depending on the area) the family will likely not be present at the time of death. For a number of reasons such as hospital policy, medical service delivery, sanitation, emotional climate, procedures, and laws, it becomes expedient to remove the body from the institution to the mortuary. The body must also be removed from the living to allow for its preparation for the funeral service and other necessary arrangements. VISITATION PERIOD. Generally and simply, stated this is the period of time devoted to social intercourse and may or may not have religious functions or connotations. Visiting may be done in a variety of ways; all of which depends upon family wishes, local custom, ethnic background, religious practice, and other significant factors. Visitation includes the viewing of the deceased and expressions of sympathy and condolence to the bereaved. This event may take place in the home of the deceased, in that of a friend, at the church, in the funeral parlor, a building of state, etc. The duration of visitation is flexible and determined by factors of personal taste, local custom, and status of the deceased, etc. THE FUNERAL RITE. This may be that part of the funeral that is viewed by the general public as being the total funeral. This is that event wherein rites nd rituals are invoked to meet the needs of the bereaved and mourners. There is a common tendency in the U.S. to think of the funeral as that brief time period, approximately thirty to sixty minutes long, when an officiant (religious or lay), reader, or leader will conduct a ceremony that declares that a death has occurred, give testimony to a life that has been lived, and offer some form of hope, condolence, or sympathy and encouragement to the bereaved. The funeral rite itself may be categorized as religious, or as secular or humanist (devoid or religious content), or contemporary (neither nor humanist, maybe both, or a mixture of all of them). THE PROCESSION. This event has its counterpart in nearly every culture and group in recorded history. The procession involves movement from the place of death and/or place of the final service to the place of final disposition. It has been referred to as "man's last journey." The procession has emotional and psychological symbolic relevance; for it involves the movement of the bereaved to the grave and then away from it signifying firm steps of resolution to continue life without the deceased. THE COMMITTAL. This final phase of the funeral process is the act of committing the body to its place of final disposition. This phase of the funeral can often be the most emotional and difficult. This act like none of the others emphasizes the finality of what has happened and what the future may hold. Pastoral counselor-psychologist Paul Irion has stated that the committal that does not commit, in essence, is not a committal at all. Therefore, this final phase should occur at the place of final disposition, and should involve an act of committal. FUNCTIONS AND PURPOSES OF THE FUNERAL Death is one of the important occasions in life that call for ceremony to help people understand their significance. The funeral is a ceremony that observes or marks the occurrence of death and fulfills some important functions in this regard. There are many varieties and types of funerals and they all have their own degree of uniqueness, individuality, and functionality. To all who mourn, the funeral enables an emotional outlet for the strong feelings and emotions of the bereaved, as well as an acceptable situation in which to express them. The funeral service enables the bereaved to meet their personal, social, psychological, emotional, religious, and spiritual needs. Death brings with it many new changes and situations which must be dealt with by those who remain. It also must be said that there are widely differing viewpoints about the purpose and usefulness of the funeral. Conversation with one's friends, family, or neighbors, will quickly verify this situation; it doesn't demand written documentation. British anthropologist and author Geoffrey Gorer has expressed his viewpoint and belief that when there is a funeral service, people more quickly work through their grief and are more readily restored to their usual or 'normal" behavior. On the other hand, when the funeral service is omitted or curtailed--by choice or accident--the grieving person tends to become withdrawn. There appears to be some basic human needs that are met by this custom or ritual that we call the funeral. Each funeral in its own way serves each grieving individual in their own way; yet all funerals serve a common purpose in meeting the common needs that are the product of sorrow. The funeral attempts to meet the following types of need: (1) The need for support. Death causes separation from love, security, companionship, and meaningful activity, and can cause despair, depression, and loneliness to occur. (2) The need to give support and care to others. Those who are not mourners or grievers can share their strength, courage, and other resources with those who are. (3) The need to face the reality that death occurred. It is one thing to acknowledge death and an Jan (John) Coetzee Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=3400