Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

The funeral of a family member took place today at a local crematorium. The ashes will be scattered in a communal plot.

Many of us pre plan our funerals these days. We are aware in life of our last resting place and choose it partly with a view to posterity, I presume.

The scenario is somewhat more complex for the famous when there are expectations that future generations will wish to honour the memory.

I have followed the evangelistic career of Billy Graham since the Harringay Crusade back in the 50s. He is now 88 and his wife, Ruth, 86 and there is a debate going on in the family and beyond about their last resting place. One possibility has been described as a "tacky" tourist attraction. This would involve the couple being buried at a memorial library currently under construction in Charlotte, North Carolina, the preacher's birthplace. A friend is reported as saying "I tell you, if you're buried there I'll dig you up and move you". It seems that the barn like structure is in part the work of the former Walt Disney consultants and is meant to serve as a reminder of the preacher's childhood on a dairy farm. When completed next year, visitors will enter through a 40ft-high glass doorway in the shape of a cross and be greeted by a mechanical talking cow called Bessie. Meanwhile Ruth has the wish for burial in the mountainsof western North Carolina where she raised her children. Who wins only time will tell.

Does it matter what happens to our mortal remains? Christians have always answered "yes" to that question if the way they have honoured the relics of saints and the burial places of the faithful departed is anything to go by. If not a consecrated building then at least a consecrated plot. "We believe in the resurrection of the body" has profounded significance when unwrapped as part of our creed. This despite our sense that our true home is not here but in heaven with the Lord.