Since it is holy week, I thought this might be a good time to share why we chose to bury Leah's remains instead of cremate them. The cost of cremation compared to burial (about $100 compared to $1,800) makes it seem like the obvious choice, especially for two students. Our bodies turn to dust either way, and God will raise us regardless. Most Christians do not think cremation is wrong, and we concur with this opinion. For us the motivation to bury came from the powerful symbolism burial provides.
I had never given much thought to the topic of cremation or burial until two years ago when someone lent us an N.T. Wright video on (I think) the resurrection. In it he explained why Jews, and later early Christians, chose burial; they believed that God cared about the bodies he made, and that bodies mattered to God even after death. After all, these were the same bodies that God promised to raise. God cared about bodies so much that he instructed his people very carefully about what they could put into their bodies, do with their bodies, and do to the bodies of others. This contrasted with pagan beliefs at the time, which asserted that the spirit matter more than the body. Some of these belief systems even viewed the body as holding back or contaminating the spirit, a direct contrast with Jewish and early Christian beliefs that bodies were created in the image of God.
While Jews and Christians entombed the bodies of their dead in expectation of the coming resurrection, pagan cultures often burnt the bodies of their dead. Burial used to be a very vivid marker of what you believed about the body God created and the promises he made about the resurrection. How Jews and Christians treated their dead marked them as different, as expectant. Burying proclaimed a hope in better things to come. What powerful symbolism this simple act holds.
We buried Leah to demonstrate our love for the body God created and the hope we hold for her future. Leah's body was prepared, dressed, and placed in a blanket. I am confident this was done with the utmost care and respect. We buried her in a special place, and marked her grave with a bible verse that explains the hope we cling to: Her body will be raised, her body will be transformed, and it will be made glorious. My precious baby, killed by her broken body, will be restored. She will be raised. She will have new life.
This is the hope of Easter. Jesus died, he was buried, and he rose again. Through his death and resurrection we have the hope of new life, of new bodies, of glory. Thanks be to God.
I had never given much thought to the topic of cremation or burial until two years ago when someone lent us an N.T. Wright video on (I think) the resurrection. In it he explained why Jews, and later early Christians, chose burial; they believed that God cared about the bodies he made, and that bodies mattered to God even after death. After all, these were the same bodies that God promised to raise. God cared about bodies so much that he instructed his people very carefully about what they could put into their bodies, do with their bodies, and do to the bodies of others. This contrasted with pagan beliefs at the time, which asserted that the spirit matter more than the body. Some of these belief systems even viewed the body as holding back or contaminating the spirit, a direct contrast with Jewish and early Christian beliefs that bodies were created in the image of God.
While Jews and Christians entombed the bodies of their dead in expectation of the coming resurrection, pagan cultures often burnt the bodies of their dead. Burial used to be a very vivid marker of what you believed about the body God created and the promises he made about the resurrection. How Jews and Christians treated their dead marked them as different, as expectant. Burying proclaimed a hope in better things to come. What powerful symbolism this simple act holds.
We buried Leah to demonstrate our love for the body God created and the hope we hold for her future. Leah's body was prepared, dressed, and placed in a blanket. I am confident this was done with the utmost care and respect. We buried her in a special place, and marked her grave with a bible verse that explains the hope we cling to: Her body will be raised, her body will be transformed, and it will be made glorious. My precious baby, killed by her broken body, will be restored. She will be raised. She will have new life.
This is the hope of Easter. Jesus died, he was buried, and he rose again. Through his death and resurrection we have the hope of new life, of new bodies, of glory. Thanks be to God.
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1 comment:
Interesting. Very well put.
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