make the dead
look like they
have just
fallen asleep
And this is where we step into the unknown, all
of us. Beyond this point, nobody; doctors, priests,
professors or psychics have any idea whether the
absence of life in the body means the departure of
everything, personality, spirit, or brace yourself - soul.
What nearly all cultures agree on is that in the right
circumstances, we should give the dead the benefit of
doubt and let them be as much as we can, performing
simple acts of kindness and respect.
There are some currently unavoidable procedures
that are done to our dead bodies. If there is any
suspicion as to how we died, then quite rightly a
thorough examination of the body in the form of a
post mortem is required. But post mortems are not
performed routinely, and there is change afoot to
limit them.
Our dead deserve, if possible, that time outside time,
a dimension of which we have no knowledge
whatsoever, to gently sit with what may be a
necessary disentanglement of body and soul. They
don’t always get this, this gentle peace, but if we
let go off the intrusive and unnecessary tradition
of embalming our dead, who knows what favours
we are doing them, as well as ourselves.
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