The best ones have Tattoos

The best ones have Tattoos

People have changed a lot over the years, but have funerals changed along with them?  I’d answer that with a resounding “Not always”.  Not as much as they could. There are many families with existing religious and family traditions, where maintaining that particular tradition makes sense. They may hold a Catholic Funeral Mass at the church, a Buddhist or Taoist funeral rite or a Baptist Funeral Service at a church or Funeral Home.

However, there are a lot of people without a church or an association with a minister. There are more and more spiritual people who do not identify with a particular religion at all. Having a funeral focused on a passage from the bible along with a Homily or a Sermon does not always make sense for these people and feels inauthentic. It is no wonder that many of these people choose not to have a funeral at all.

You do not need a Bachelor of Theology to be a Funeral Celebrant. In fact, many of the best ones don’t. In today’s day and age, Funeral Celebrants focus instead on the families, quirks, passions, and life story of the individual being remembered and weave an intricate tapestry with it. People bring their motorcycles, fishing rods, or their sewing machines to include with the service and people play the music that makes sense for them. I still have “Green Onions” by Booker T. and the M.G.s stuck in my head from a recent cemetery service. If you do not know that song, look it up. It is a cool song, that was played at the cemetery for a really cool guy.

This is not your great-great-grandfather’s funeral. It is, however, a much-needed shift in thought to make funerals more authentic and meaningful.  The Celebrants of the present day align their service with the actual life lived -- and the best ones have tattoos.