Here’s a job description for you. Read it and tell me if you are interested in applying:
- Depending on the state in which you live, training can take 3-7 years.
- On call 24/7/365.
- When called out in the middle of the night, you will show up dressed in your business best.
- You must know and comply with all federal and state regulations.
- You will need some basic training in finance, business, and basic legalities pertaining to your business.
- You will deal with families at their lowest moment.
- This low moment can lead to anger, bickering, and even violence.
- You will stand outside with these families in the coldest of winter and the hottest of summer, snow and rain included.
- People will either praise your work or condemn it.
- You will have lies told about you by people who do not understand the business.
- Typically, you will do this job well past retirement years before turning it over to someone else, sometimes a family member.
Anyone interested? Any ideas what job this is? It coincides with today’s National Day Calendar celebration which honors funeral directors and morticians.
Since 1994, I’ve worked with Griesers, Shorts, Oberlin-Turnbull, Krill, Thompsons, Schaeffer (Defiance), Cowan and Sons (Van Wert), Eagle (Reading, MI), and others in Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky. In our area, people will ask me, “Who do you recommend?” That’s a hard one for me to answer. I’ve never worked with any funeral homes or directors that I didn’t like. Locally, they are all good people, and they all do a good job caring for families and for the deceased.
I just can’t – and I won’t – recommend one over the other. I respect each of the directors and have considered it a privilege to work with each one. If any of them would happen to read this, I hope that I have always conveyed my respect and admiration for their profession and professionalism. We’ve been together at some of the worst possible times in the lives of others and every time, they’ve all excelled at their work and with their compassion for grieving families.
During funeral visitations, we often get a chance to just talk. That is something I genuinely look forward to doing. They’ve all got great personalities and are the opposite of the stereotypical emotionally dark and creepy “undertaker.” The laughter, the stories, and the camaraderie is something I treasure.
In Bible days, it doesn’t seem that there were professionals who cared for the deceased. Instead, loved ones took care of the bodies, preparing them for burial per the standard of Bible days.
“By the time of the New Testament, Jewish burial customs had evolved but retained their core elements. The body was typically washed, anointed with spices, and wrapped in linen cloths. This is evident in the burial of Jesus, where Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took His body, wrapped it in linen with spices, and placed it in a new tomb. The use of spices and ointments was both a sign of respect and a practical measure to counteract the odor of decay.”1
“And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. (39) And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. (40) Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. (41) Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. (42) There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.” (John 19:38-42)
My guess is that all of us have had the funeral home experience. We’ve lost a family member or a very dear friend. Funeral directors do their best to provide comfort and help during a time when we aren’t thinking as clearly as we might like. For all of their efforts during our time of grief, we say thank you. But we acknowledge that our greatest help comes from the Lord.
Psalms 121:1-2 reminds us, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. (2) My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.”
1https://biblehub.com/topical/p/preparation_for_burial.htm
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