Confessions of a Funeral Director
April 20, 2012
Science demystified death and then mystified it again.
In an agrarian society, death occurs in the context of community. In an individualistic, industrial culture, death becomes institutionalized, being pushed away – again – to the outside of our lives and the outside of community. And while the advancements of modern medicine are praiseworthy, they’ve taken care and the end-stage of life in the hands of the experts instead of the hands of family and friends.
At one time, death was mystical and placed on the fringe of community because of our lack of understanding of death and dying. Today, our understanding of death has again caused it to be mystical, as it’s found itself outside community and in hospitals and nursing homes.
Today, death is on the outside of life. And that’s why it’s so awkward for us. And that’s why we fear it.
Read the full article at Confessions of a Funeral Director
