On Being a Funeral Celebrant
Here I am, somehow standing in for this person we have all gathered to honour and farewell.
I have listened to family and friends, asked questions to elicit the fullest picture, the roundest sense of the life at the centre of our ritual.
And here I am, holding it all, the balance of dignity and lightness, truth and compassion, sorrow and hopefulness. In the face of death I am alive, fully present, every cell seeming to take in and give out what is needed.
Who am I serving in this cherished role?
I am serving the deceased, standing in the midst of her family, listening on her behalf, open to the shades and the nuances.
I am serving family members, each different in relationship and perspective, each creating their piece of the remembering.
I am serving friends, colleagues, anyone who needs to mark an ending, to say goodbye, to use the efficacy of ceremony to be with their regretting and their gratitude.
I am serving the professionals – the funeral director, crematorium and cemetery staff, musicians and bearers by attending to the details so the process is orderly and timely.
I serve healing, for a funeral that is fitting and meaningful and invites participation sits well in our bones, and the journey back to wholeness can begin.
And over and around all this there dwells a larger picture, a sense that we are held, each one of us, in something sacred, and far beyond our knowing.
Margie McCallum
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