Burials And Funeral Directors From Around The World - Amish Bereavement

Burials And Funeral Directors From Around The World - Amish Bereavement

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We live in an age where every day millions of us are grabbing burgers, squeezing onto the tube train or rushing along with a cell phone to our ear. So it seems hard to grasp that in the heart of America there is a community that actively resists this 21st century way of life.

The Amish community lives as simply as possible, shunning all things modern, including cars, television and even electricity. They are well known for their dark toned (predominantly black) clothing and very plain, old-fashioned appearance. Amish women, for example, all wear long dresses, while the men have beards.

When a member of the Amish community dies, grief is expressed privately, rather than openly shown. Friends and members of the family may visit the deceased in their home for the three days between the person's death and the funeral. The room itself is cleared of all furniture.

Although the Amish mourners still wear their traditional black to the funeral, the deceased person is dressed in white. For males, this usually comprises white trousers, shirt and vest, while for females it will be a white dress, cape and apron. For many married women their white cape and apron will be the same ones that they wore for their wedding.

On the day of an Amish funeral, the community hold a church service in the deceased's home or sometimes in a barn. When addressing the congregation (all delivered in German) the minister focuses on praising God, rather than commemorating the dead. There are no flowers and there is no eulogy. Nor is there any singing, as hymns are just read instead of sung.

Amish graves are dug by hand and all deceased have simple coffins made of pine, which are then covered with plain, shovelled dirt. Unlike many cultures, there are no extravagant symbols of wealth, as all Amish see one another as equals. In many Amish communities, for example, tombstones are not even engraved. Those that are engraved state just the name, dates of birth and death and the person's age.

Parents bury their children in unmarked graves or mark their burial place with a small headstone flush with the ground. The mothers will wear black clothes for a year, while the fathers will wear plain white shirts.

These very simple, private Amish funerals reflect their faith and whole way of life. Indeed, the Amish communities consider a person's funeral to be far more important than their birth, because the community believes in the world to come.

About the Author:
With origins dating back to 1853, E.F. Box are one of the oldest funeral directors within the UK. They offer a range of funeral services across a variety of faiths, beliefs and ways of celebrating life.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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