The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1892-01-30
FUNERAL REFORM.

Extract from paper read by Dr. g. d. Chase,
! OF Traverse City, Mich, at the annual conven-
! ton OF the Michigan Funeral Directors AssOca-
ton, Traverse City, August, 1891
AS have already intlmated, | be-
lieve it too late to reform the subject
of the funeral hence my subject must
embrace merely the reform of the
funeral service. Even in this there is
room for wide difference of opinion
and opportunity for the exercise of the
individual taste and preference. Hence,
| can recommend only such service
as commends itself to my taste and
Judgment as befitting funeral occasion.
First, then, | want to protest against
Sunday funerals. Granting that there
may be occasions when circumstances
make necessary the buryng of the
dead on Sunday, l maintain that such
occasions are extremely rare, and the
too common practice Of placing funer-
ais on that daY out of mere preference
should be discounteuanced by every
thoughtful citizen. Ny first objection
10 the Sunday funeral may be re5arde
| by some as selfish one. Ii is an un-
Just demand upon the minister The
| Tpui,I1r NE ,ha C,kh,tl,
sufficient tax upon the energies of any
active clergyman, and adding 70 this
work regularly expected of him from
one 10 SIX hours of funeral service is
an injustice which no thoughtful person
ought to impose upon the minister.
But ministers are not the only ones
compelled to bear this extra Sunday
work. The Sunday t.neral lays un-
necessary labor upon the undertaken
the sexton, the grave digger, the
liveiyman, and others, robbing them of
their rest day, and calling them away
from church privileges. Besides the
whole thing looks bad. The Sunday
funeral seems to say to all who behold
1t, eve can't afford to bury our dead
on week day. We can't stop our
work long enough for that; hence we
trundle his bones off to the grave on a
| day when we are not allowed to work.
Secondly: Let the funeral service
be simple, respectful and brief. The
idea is altogether too prevalent that a
funeral occasion is an occasion tor dis
play, not only OF sorrow and grief, but
wealth and social standing and pres
tige in the community; but good taste
certainly forbids making a funeral a
pageant. When the funeral is of
national interest, OF course a more
elaborate service seems called tor; but
ordinarily funeral procession of great
length and strung out very thin re
minds US of the one described by
Josiah Aliens wife, where the mourners
rode one in a carriage. Great pro-
fusion Of flowers piled around and
upon the casket, when purchased from
slender purses, seems, despite their
beauty, very inappropriate dc ecorAtion.
The same may be said OF all forms OF
funeral extravaganza. Don't buy
what you are not able to pay for, even
though it lie for the funeral of the
most loved one on earth. Flowers
and costly caskets and miles of Grape
are not the only nor the chief mani
festations of sorrow or respect. Tney
may and often do conceal hearts un-
touched by sorrow and as cold as the
grave. Genuine sorrow is not de
pendent upon such assistance for such
manifestation.
Let the funeral II possible, be held
at home. Don't darken the house
Draw back the curtains, open the
shutters, and let in Gods pure, gracious,
soul comforting sunshine that carries
with 1t the Gospel of hope. What
more blessed symbol, what more cher
ishing comforter can this world Offer
the sorrowlng heart that sunshine Let
it in to kiss away the mourners' tears
and open the heart for the reception
of heavenly comfort. Don't converse
in whisper, nor in hollow, sepulchral
tones. Let voice and Countenance
and the entire demeanor be not pur-
| posed to make Others as sad as pos
slble, but to fill hearts with hope and
comfort.
Let the service consist of singing
two or three sweet, hopeful melodies, &
prayer OF devout earnestness, but of nc
unusual length, and few remarks by
|
the attending minister. The old style
funeral sermon is dying out, and hope
some of you undertakers will bury i
one of these days. VINO wants to heal
a regular, argumentative sermon at {
funeralP The audience is usually un.
comfortably seated or standing The
minister IS stood up in some doorway
or corner, or in such close proximity
to a stove or register as to make tbt
, space unavailable for seating; aps
nobody is prepared to listen - : 2
mon is net prepared itself. ~
l heard one preacher preach q =
and a quarter at funeral
two thirds of his au''.
! ing and not Il
: outside
Il zlnP
49,