Day Ninety-Six- 4/6/11 Planing My Funeral

Day Ninety-Five: 4/6/11
New Thing: Planing my Funeral    
Inspiration: Lent, Mortality        
Cost: $0 
Time: Several hours (though most of that was hymn selection)              
Bottom Line: We are going to be singing my soul all the way to my eternal rest.

"What hymns would you chose, Death?" "Something...lively. Pun intended."

Reflection: For years, I have been meaning to plan my funeral during Lent. Not as an exercise in the  macabre, but as part of the time honored tradition of contemplating one's own mortality. In the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, philosophers believed that to truly understand the nature of life, one had to understand the nature of death--the great equalizer. In Christian though, we are reminded that we are finite creatures when ashes are placed on our head with the reminder that, "you are dust and to dust you will return." Some theologians will go so far as to argue that all sin is a product of our frustration that we are not infinite as only God is. We sin when we rail against the truth of our limits. So, to remember that you will pass on is a very healthy thing. And we can go further by directing our lives to stand as a testament to the love of God and our funerals are the symbol of that belief. I know that this may sound counter-intuitive, but this was actually a very peaceful meditation. It now serves for me as a guide for all of the theological beliefs that I want to shape the rest of my life by. 

So, here are my choices. By far, the part that was the hardest was choosing the hymns. That took about an hour. By the way, if you are interested in trying this out for yourself, let me know and I can send you a little worksheet to help guide you through the choices you need to make.

Bodily Remains Preparations:

• I would actually prefer to have a "green burial"--a method which essentially puts the body in as plain a coffin as possible and then buries the body without any embalming. However, this might mean that the body could not be present for the funeral.  
• If that is the case, I would prefer to be cremated and have the ashes present for the service. 
• I prefer to have the least expensive cremation container possible. 
• I would like half of my ashes to be interred at a place of the family's choosing and the other half scattered in Deer Isle, Maine the place of some of my fondest memories including family vacations, our honeymoon, and the best Raining vacation to date.

Service:

• Rite II since that was the form I was raised with and will mean the most to my family. 
• Eucharistic Prayer A 
• Sung Setting
• Santus S128 (Mathias) or S130 (Schubert) Again, these will mean the most to my family. 
• Fraction S155 (Near) or S164 (Schubert- although this is not a traditional setting for a funeral, it is Delia's favorite.) 
• In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Trinity Episcopal Church.

Readings:

• Isaiah 61: 1-3 (To comfort those who mourn)
• Psalms 121 (or hymn) & 23 (KJV)
• Revelation 21:2-7 (Behold, I make all things new)
• John 11: 21-27 (I am the resurrection and the life) 

 Hymns: 

• This is simply the list of the "must haves." I have a second list of "would also accept" which has over a dozen on it. 
• Processional 400 All Creatures of our God and King Lasst uns erfreun (The poetry is attributed to St. Francis and was the processional in our wedding. Also, I think that it is important to start the service in a song of praise.)
• Between Readings 330 Praise to the Lord Lobe den Herren
• Gospel 379 God is Love, let heaven adore him Abbot’s Leigh (in wedding and ordination and Christophany)
• After first reading?  517 How lovely is thy dwelling place Brother James’ Air (Psalm 84 & ordination)
• Communion 490 I want to walk as a child of the light Houston (For the family and Delia who love this hymn, and for the themes of Resurrection and the text from Revelation)
• Closing 657 Love divine all loves excelling Hyfrydol (Wedding and Wesly)
• Communion 645 The King of Love my Shepherd is St. Columba (Irish melody, Psalm 23)
• Communion LEVAS 101 Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling (Delia’s Favorite Hymn- I sing it to her as a lullaby)  
• Communion "I'll Fly Away" (Also a Delia favorite) 

Lenten Meditation-   
Prayed for: ES & RS
Prayer Walk/Yoga- 6K in the morning! 

Journal Topic with Ken- A journal exercise called, "The Way I Cope"  

Music- I sang all the hymns in my funeral service.  

Fast- Still the hardest one for me this year.  

Daily Office- NP contemplating mortality & EP was with the "Know Chocolate" Family service with the special gift of having my father there!!!