The Epidemic of Cremation

The past two years has changed the way we even speak as a society. The COVID19 Pandemic has affected every aspect of our society from how we teach our children to how we gather as friends for holidays, but like every other disease the world faces, this too shall pass. What seems to not be passing is our growing fascination with cremation, and it too must stop.

Long before we were even baptized, God declared that every human being was created in the Image of God. Sure, we have smudged that image over the millennia, but by the grace of God, it never fades completely. In our baptism, we are renewed, and in the reception of Holy Communion we become the temple of the Holy Spirit. I don’t understand why we would ever choose to intentionally, and violently, destroy our human body.

Long before Christ walked the earth with His Disciples, peoples of all faiths were burying their dead with rituals of reverence. So, what has changed? Our society has grown more indifferent to the human body beyond it can provide us with comfort. As long as the body is functioning, we can work and collect money for our estate. With the money, we can purchase exorbitant homes and treasures with which to fill our homes. With our homes, we can host lavish parties. All these things need a functioning body, so once the body is dead, it needs to be dealt with, and fast, because it begins to smell.

This might sound crass to express these thoughts, but I believe that is the only way to explain why we could ever choose cremation. Cremation is so violent, the only way it makes sense is if we hate the body and want to punish it somehow. Let’s face it. Nothing about our estate, or houses or lavish parties has anything to do with what will happen to our souls after we die. It seems best to destroy the body and get on with it…..At least that’s how we treat it.

Now before you cast my thoughts aside, let me clarify what cremation is. Most simply say it is the burning of the body. It isn’t that simple. First, you should know the bones don’t burn, so what is put in the urn isn’t ashes. Once the flesh and clothes and coffin are burned, all that is left is bones and any other debris that survived the kiln. The bones are gathered and GROUND UP to a powder. Whatever fits in the urn goes in, and whatever doesn’t fit is thrown away. The kiln is washed out and the ‘rest of you’ is washed down the drain.

In no way can this be characterized as non-violent or reverent. In no way can this be seen as respecting the Temple of the Holy Spirit. In no way can this continue, no matter how much cheaper it is for families, but there is another reason to stop.

Today is the Feast of the removal of the Relics of Saint John Chrysostom, a commemoration common to saints when their relics were removed from the grave, or discovered, and reverently prepared for veneration. In the Church, we have a special service for the cleaning of bones. If you have ever visited a monastery in the ‘old country’ and seen the ‘bone room’ in which are kept the bones of the monks (or nuns) who have lived at the monastery over the centuries. They are kept reverently awaiting their resurrection at the final judgment. Oftentimes we discover saints in the process of removing bones from graves because their bodies didn’t decompose. You can read about many incorrupt saints whose bodies centuries after death are still intact, some even warm. If these incorrupt saints had been cremated, we may never know they existed. We may never have had the opportunity to pray to them and be inspired by them.

In light of how the Church views cremation, services are forbidden to be performed by the clergy for anyone who will be or who has been cremated. This is for two reasons. First, the service of the funeral requires a body to be present, which is impossible after cremation. Second, the services of the Church are for those who live the life of the Church. If we refuse the life of the Church, then we refuse the services too.

In other words, if I reject the teachings of the Church, in this case about the human body, they I naturally am rejecting the Church. Unfortunately, in today’s environment, the Church is not something that leads me in my life decisions. Rather, it is something I associate with because I agree with the Church and/or like the rituals of the Church. We tend to view the teachings of the Church as a list of options, and we can ‘take it or leave it’ based upon our own discretion.

In a way that is true. We have the free will to reject the Church, but then we have rejected it and ‘move on’ outside the Church. Cremation might be legal, and unfortunately encouraged by many in our society, but it most definitely in outside the teachings of the Church. If you, or your family, have planned for cremation, please reconsider. Speak with your spiritual father and change the plans.

Maybe we can start a new hashtag #LetStopCremation