Wanna use an environmentally-friendly method for burial?

I've actually seriously considered this method. I have never liked the idea of cremation. And I'm not crazy about filling the ground with a burial vault. I've always liked the idea of naturally returning my body to the earth.

I've never been real big on the idea of an expensive headstone either. My middle name is Birch and one day Mrs. abcaines suggested planting a birch tree as my "headstone". I really like that idea especially if I get composted. I can be fertilizer for the tree.
 
I'm hoping the family cremates me and puts my ashes in an hourglass so I can continue to join them on family game night.
 
hmmmm, interesting thread, fer sure. I'll not address the method of decomposition and care for the body, but I will say that (though I think that there are a variety of ways that people can appropriately deal with the death/separation/grieving process) that for me, I find the usual m.o. for funerals to be archaic and overly taxing to the surviving spouse. I think I favor having a meal at a restaurant and telling stories amongst family and friends.

Edited to add, the one reservation I have about abandoning the traditional western funeral format is losing the opportunity to proclaim the gospel message to those who are present to pay their respects and honor the dead.
 
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ALAYMAN said:
hmmmm, interesting thread, fer sure. I'll not address the method of decomposition and care for the body, but I will say that (though I think that there are a variety of ways that people can appropriately deal with the death/separation/grieving process) that for me, I find the usual m.o. for funerals to be archaic and overly taxing to the surviving spouse. I think I favor having a meal at a restaurant and telling stories amongst family and friends.

Edited to add, the one reservation I have about abandoning the traditional western funeral format is losing the opportunity to proclaim the gospel message to those who are present to pay their respects and honor the dead.
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That can be done at a memorial service....no funeral necessary. My wife says she wants to have a memorial service for me (does she know something I don't????) after I'm cremated...and she wants one for herself after she's cremated. We both opted for cremation over funerals because of the prohibitive costs, the false "love" shown at funerals, and the way some people, especially the preachers, try to play on people's emotions at the time of bereavement. Memorial services allow for people to have had time to compose themselves, deal with grief, and to be able to listen and accept or reject Christ on the merits of the Gospel itself. I've seen many people ask about God and salvation after a memorial service, making genuine decisions to accept Christ, whereas after most funerals and services there, the "decision" has been laid aside and life goes on.
 
When my mother passed away, we kept her coffin closed. And what a shame, because she looked beautiful. Her hairdresser (who had done her hair in life) did a superb job, and she was dressed to the t's. But in life, we all had heard her say how tacky she felt it was for people to stare down upon a dead person. And so we kept her coffin closed.

Dr Bill Compton spoke at her funeral (some of you may have known of him). Anyway, when I go, I definitely am going to be cremated with no funeral and certainly no preaching. If my loved ones want to have a party, I'll leave some money so they can order a bunch of pizzas and sit around and laugh about all the stupid stuff I did in life.

Or something like that.
 
Gringo said:
When my mother passed away, we kept her coffin closed. And what a shame, because she looked beautiful. Her hairdresser (who had done her hair in life) did a superb job, and she was dressed to the t's. But in life, we all had heard her say how tacky she felt it was for people to stare down upon a dead person. And so we kept her coffin closed.
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I used to walk by open caskets at funerals. Now I don't. I just don't want my last memory of someone to be seeing them laying in their casket; besides that, I don't care to look at a corpse.

A few years ago, the mother of our pastor's daughter in law passed and the family asked him to do the services. They wheeled the casket into the church (our building used to be a funeral chapel) and set it there open. I ran the sound board for the service and in order to run the microphones the way they were needed, I kept having to go up front and behind where the casket was. Add to that, the fact the service was a couple months after her passing. One of her sons was a licensed mortician so he had embalmed her and taken care of everything so she was still presentable... still, I'd rather have not had to go back there.
 
Since we’re on the grim subject, I guess I’ll toss in my two cents.

My wife and I both have in our wills that we are going to be cremated and have our ashes spread in the ocean. (There are cremation businesses that specialize in that.) I’ve lived by the water my entire life, and it’s where I feel closest to God (much more so than in a church).

I’ve been a pallbearer before, and I don’t want to have anyone carrying my dead weight in a casket, nor do I wish to have a decaying headstone that eventually no one will ever visit. I’d rather become fish food—the circle of life. Not to mention, I probably owe the ocean for all of the fish I’ve caught and eaten over the years (not to mention oysters, shrimp and crabs). 😎
 
We "buried" my dad 2 years ago.

He was cremated. We had an out door tent with a couple of his friends eulogizing. A brief sermon and then a picnic.

Simple. It cost me more to travel to the memorial service than the entire service.

Simple and honoring... what he wanted
 
FSSL said:
We "buried" my dad 2 years ago.

He was cremated. We had an out door tent with a couple of his friends eulogizing. A brief sermon and then a picnic.

Simple. It cost me more to travel to the memorial service than the entire service.

Simple and honoring... what he wanted
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Exactly! And that's what my wife and I want. We've seen so many funerals and the farce of some people weeping and wailing, making long speeches about how great these people were when they wouldn't even speak to them in life. We don't want that. Plus, it's MORBID to stand there looking into a casket at a dead body. I've seen so many things happen at the casket that I wish I could forget! It won't be that way at a memorial service.
 
Here’s a balanced read on the Christian ethics of cremation.
 
Sherryh said:
My husband was cremated and sits on my dresser in an urn. I miss him everyday
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We've set aside money to have ourselves turned into diamonds and jewelry. I don't want to be "cooped up" in a jar! LOL
 
ALAYMAN said:
Here’s a balanced read on the Christian ethics of cremation.
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Russell Moore touches on what I see is the crux of the matter: That the body is important. In life, it is the vehicle by which we honor or dishonor God. The Gnostics reject this notion in their assertion that what's done in the spirit is all that counts. The Scriptures are very clear that Christ bore our sins in His body. In death, it is the shell that remains. While we no longer occupy our bodies, but our bodies are still a symbol of importance. Respectful treatment of the body emphasizes remembering its importance.

I cannot, however, be dogmatic in this position since I don't see the Scriptures as being so.
 
abcaines said:
Russell Moore touches on what I see is the crux of the matter: That the body is important. In life, it is the vehicle by which we honor or dishonor God. The Gnostics reject this notion in their assertion that what's done in the spirit is all that counts. The Scriptures are very clear that Christ bore our sins in His body. In death, it is the shell that remains. While we no longer occupy our bodies, but our bodies are still a symbol of importance. Respectful treatment of the body emphasizes remembering its importance.

I cannot, however, be dogmatic in this position since I don't see the Scriptures as being so.
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Excellent, and essentially my thoughts as well.
 
I used to be against cremation, but, after seeing several pastors use it, and not for financial reasons, I decided that it was an acceptable practice. Of course, I researched it and the Biblical implications, but, the only reason I found that burial might be considered the only way to go was that Christ was buried. But, he had to be...it would have been a bad example to have one's self "fried" when they had to be raised again in a couple of days. It wouldn't have been impossible, but, it would have looked awfully strange to people of that time period.
 
AverageJoe said:
I used to be against cremation, but, after seeing several pastors use it, and not for financial reasons, I decided that it was an acceptable practice. Of course, I researched it and the Biblical implications, but, the only reason I found that burial might be considered the only way to go was that Christ was buried. But, he had to be...it would have been a bad example to have one's self "fried" when they had to be raised again in a couple of days. It wouldn't have been impossible, but, it would have looked awfully strange to people of that time period.
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Interesting take. As has already been said there’s not enough to be dogmatic either way. One point I would say is significant is that eternal judgment by fire seems to symbolize the idea that in death we might want to avoid that association to “disrespect”. But again, I won’t contend that cremation is sinful.
 
ALAYMAN said:
Interesting take. As has already been said there’s not enough to be dogmatic either way. One point I would say is significant is that eternal judgment by fire seems to symbolize the idea that in death we might want to avoid that association to “disrespect”. But again, I won’t contend that cremation is sinful.
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I remember the first time I burned my hand on a hot stove. It seemed the burning pain would never stop. Later on, as I pondered cremation, my mind went straight to the night I suffered that burn. I've not been a fan of cremation since. Also, pondering the fires of hell illicit similar dread from that night.
 
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