We then received many hugs and words of encouragement from family and friends. Spontaneously, several friends picked up the shovel and finished filling in the grave. I cannot express in words how moving this was. One thing that we found out was that being involved in the intimacies of planning and carrying out the service and burial helped us work through our grief. That is one thing that I would emphasize.
Modern funerals take away from the reality of death.
In times past, the family were the ones who handled the body and prepared it for burial. Of course, that is not always possible but we cannot shut off ourselves from what has happened. The job of a Christian Funeral Service is twofold. One is to confront us with the reality of death and the other is to confront us with the blessed reality of eternal life. Many in our family are not Christians.