Sunday, January 27, 2013

Really Dyin' for a 'Burger

There was a news story yesterday about a funeral procession that went through a Burger King drive-thru.  It seems the deceased was a big hamburger eater, and his family arranged for him to have one last fast food visit.  A Whopper was placed on the hearse, and the forty cars in the procession each got a hamburger "for the road."  This was in York County, PA; I used to live in York County.  Isn't laying the human remains of a loved one to rest a a solemn, serious moment?  Doesn't a funeral cry out for reverence and respectfulness?   Do you really want to take a funeral processional though a fast food drive-thru?  Really?   I've had my share of awkward moments at funerals.  Once someone placed a Steelers' "Terrible Towel" over the pall.  Do you really want the deceased's love of the Steelers to eclipse to love of Christ for us?  Really?  I have also had people tell inappropriate stories at funerals.  Is that off-color story really what you want to say about Aunt Minnie in Church?  Really?  Funerals aren't about being cute; they are about our salvation.  And burying people with their favorite objects seems to me to hearken back to pre-historic religions. Does Uncle Elmer really need his nine iron in Heaven?  Really?   

2 comments:

Kathy said...

Have you seen a photo of the grave of the woman in CO who died in a Catholic hospital? It has an engraved motorcycle on it. I'm with you, friend.

Pastor Eric said...

Near where I live there is a cemetary with a gravestone that has attracted a lot of unwanted attention and controversy. The grave is for an infant who died and etched on the stone are scenes from the child's short life, including a scene of his mother nursing him. Some sick souls get a thrill out of that. Certainly the family did not intend it that way. In their grief they made a questionable decision. Someone who worked at the cemetary told me they would never allow such a thing again.