Final Resting Place

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Once again I was surprised at how the challenge of trying to “spend less” on one of life’s necessities actually resulted in a surprising reward. As I have been very clear about, money has never been one of my motivators. Therefore, I don’t have much of it laying around for when a necessity suddenly pops up, and this world is full of people who like to take advantage when your down. They see your need as their chance to gain “money”, as much as possible. For the love of money.

I live in a world motivated by money, and I do not fit. I’m upside down to this world, and so was Jesus, the one I follow, the Upside Down Kingdom. So my wife and I decided a long time ago to choose cremation over an expensive funeral service complete with everything that entails, along with a bill of thousands of dollars. I simply don’t need it, and neither do my loved ones left behind.

However, one night I realized, even though my body is ashes in a bottle/urn, there still needs to be some kind of a simple service giving people some closure , as they say. Then I realized too, no one in my family has a house big enough for that kind of thing. Once again, renting even a simple building is very expensive! And since I left the modern church with all its bells and whistles, I don’t have that option either. Should I run back to the modern church? No thanks. That would not be true to what I have seen.

Also, people need a place to go and feel close, after you’re gone, even though you’re not really there, but we are like that. I had a close friend who died at age 30 of cancer. Even though I’ve only visited his grave site a few times over the many years, it still meant a lot to me, and grave sites are also expensive! Money, money, money! Can I think outside the box and find a better answer? Because my ashes setting in a jar on a shelf is not the message I want to send either. The way we choose to be put away really is our chance to send a final message. Sending a message is ALWAYS important. And it should be true to who we are.

Think about your own plans for that final necessity. Does it really send the message you want? Is it true to who you have been all your life? Will it affect your loved ones the way you really want it to? Will it be all about you? Or them?

So I lay awake pondering this problem and found some wonderful options that for me, at least, send a much better message than people remarking about how real I look, (or not), as my worn out body lays in a fancy casket.

Evidently Jesus didn’t put much stock in worrying about a tomb either. I can’t see he ever bought very costly items. Yes, he knew he was going to die. He also knew someone was going to give him a grave site, and he would be giving it back. But the point is, had someone not provided him one out of the generosity of their heart, he had made no provision for his death.

Solving the “building” issue turned out to be pretty simple. Parks are still relatively free. I’ve been an outdoor nature guy all my life anyway. And I don’t care for big fancy costly church buildings, either. So that would be untrue to me. Not a message I want to send.

But what if I die in the winter? No problem. My wife and I both agreed, we are ashes in a bottle. We’ll keep. No reason why the immediate family can’t have a private gathering in a home, then put us on a shelf until spring, then have the public service in a park. Very easy and inexpensive funeral service which actually sends a message of resurrection and life, instead of death and defeat.

Now for the grave site. I really liked this one, too. It needs to be a place that will always be there. And again, what message do you want to send? I considered Shades Park for my ashes to be spread, because it had always been a place I enjoyed, and my children all know it; but then an even better answer came. In order to send the best message I could think of, my ashes NEEDED to be thrown into a river, and at a special place. That will be fully explained in next episode.

I know you want to keep me with you, but I’m no longer here. Throw my ashes in a river and watch them disappear.

More to come.

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