Special

por Lillian Rosendo

Is the funeral for the one who stays? Or is it for the one who goes?

Let the dead take care of burying their dead; as for you, go and announce the Kingdom of God.” 1

 

One more article regarding disincarnating - an uncomfortable and fatal experience that awaits us. We live without worrying (thanks to God) about the day it will come; we do not long for it; it can be a very distant day, but it can also be a very close one.

Since the beginning, we bitter this unwanted visitor who takes away our most beloved ones. We sometimes say: “Take the unwanted crook or take that chronic outlaw”, but soon we read in the Gospel the general thought: “If he were a good man, he would have died”.2

Those who are currently outlaws or bandits, and those who are trying to be good men and women, will all go, one before the other, regardless of the time of landing on the Planet.

The still limited understanding of the justice and goodness of God does not allow us to understand that what looks terrible can actually be a good thing. Due to spiritual immaturity, we do not pay attention to the whole, however, maturity can and will certainly be achieved through effort and attitudes that strip themselves of the materiality of the earthly existence, seeing that there is something greater outside of it.

Every year there is a considerable wave of disembodied Spirits, but this year - 2020 - has been a milestone for the mass departure of Spirits, especially in the month of May here in our Country3, due to the health crisis and other diseases. We are, therefore, having a greater contact with this experience of being saddened by watching the departure of many people known to precede us in returning to true life.

A young man, wanting to follow Jesus, told the Master that before following Him he had to go and bury his father. The Christ, who is all love, unceremoniously told him to leave it to the dead to bury their dead and follow him. The first time I came into contact with this verse was in childhood, and I was very impressed, but no one was able to explain to me satisfactorily what Jesus really wanted to teach. So, since I have access to the Spiritist Doctrine, which helped me understand that passage, I copy the following text:


"What can these words mean: 'Leave the dead to the care of burying their dead'? The foregoing considerations show, first, that, in the circumstances in which they were said, they could not contain censure for those who considered it a duty of filial piety to go and bury their father. However, they have a profound meaning, which only the most complete knowledge of the spiritual life could make noticeable.

Spiritual life is, indeed, the true life, it is the normal life of the Spirit. Its earthly existence is temporary and transient, a kind of death, if compared to the splendor and to the action of the other. The body is nothing more than a coarse garment that temporarily covers the Spirit, a real fetter that binds the Spirit to the earthly land, from which it feels happy to be free. The respect for the dead is not inspired by the matter. It is caused by the memory of the absent Spirit. It is similar to the one caused by the objects that belonged to it, that it touched and that the people who are fond of it keep as relics. This was what that man could not understand for himself. Jesus teaches him this by saying: Don't worry about the body, think about the Spirit; go and teach the Kingdom of God; go and tell men that their homeland is not the Earth, but Heaven, because you will only find true life there.”4

 

Clearer than this is impossible and also a relief. And as a bonus, Jesus teaches that love does not die.

In each culture, people bury their dead in their own way.

In Germany the preparation of the body takes days or even weeks, there is a funeral gathering with friends and family in a restaurant after the ceremony.

In Russia the funeral is a joyful gathering, with people wearing colorful clothes.

In Japan, funerals take place at home. It is a ceremony where silence and respect reign.

In Italy the fraternization is around the funeral. Funerals take place at home and can last up to a week. The intention is that everyone can say goodbye to the deceased.

And in Brazil, well, we all know how it is. I went to homes and chapels and in both I saw negative attitudes at the time, mainly due to the ignorance of the spiritual life.

Spiritist literature clarifies what happens at a wake; we know that disincarnating varies from Spirit to Spirit; the more materialized, the longer the Spirit remains attached to the physical body, but it may happen that the Spirit attends the funeral itself and hears the jokes and the unfortunate comments of those present.

Since March of this year, the Ministry of Health6 has published a protocol on funerals and burials for deaths caused by Covid-19, due to the risk of contamination, with a recommendation for accommodation of a maximum of 10 people and maintaining the necessary distance. For the mourning families, this is an immense challenge.

One of the cases that Andre Luiz brought to us, through the psychographics of Chico Xavier, is that of Dimas and the behavior of relatives and friends during the wake, which directly influenced the state of the disembodied, harming him several times.

It is necessary in a wake to pay respect to both the disembodied and its family, knowing that - who is going to the beyond - is not the envelope, the body, but the Spirit. It is up to us to send you the best feelings for your outcome, the prayer in favor of your detachment and your arrival on the spiritual plane.

Regarding prayers for those who disembodied, here is one that I copied from Kardec’s Codification7 and that is a psychographics by a medium in Bordeaux, France, when a disembodied person inside a coffin passed by his house:


“- Lord omnipotent, may your mercy extend to our brothers who have just left Earth! May your light shine for them! Take them out of the darkness; open their eyes and ears! May the good spirits surround you and make you hear words of peace and hope! Lord, although very unworthy, we dare to implore your merciful indulgence for this brother of ours who has just been called from exile. May his return be like the prodigal's. Forget, My God, the faults he has committed, and remember only the good he has done. Your justice is unchangeable - we know it - but your love is immense. We beg you to ease your justice, in the fountain of your goodness that comes from your divine bosom. Let the light shine for your eyes, brother that is leaving the Earth! May the Good Spirits approach you, surround you and help to break the earthly chains! Understand and see the greatness of our Lord: submit yourself without complaint to his justice, but never despair of his mercy. Brother! May a serious review of your past open the doors of the future to you, making you realize the faults you leave behind and the work that you are responsible for doing to repair them! May God forgive you and may the good spirits support and encourage you. Your brothers on Earth will pray for you and ask you to pray for them.”

 

Here is a model, which does not mean that we should say it in the same words, but in the same sense, since praying for those who disembodied is also a way of announcing the Kingdom of God.

The question in the very beginning of this text, the title, is for all of us, including myself, to answer:

Is the funeral for the one who stays? Or is it for the one who goes?

 

Reference:

1 Bible: Luke, 9: 59-60.

2 Kardec, Allan. The Gospel According to Spiritism. V. IT 22. Translation by Matheus Rodrigues de Camargo. 1st edition. 40th reprint. Capivari. Sao Paulo. Publisher EME. 2000.

3 Madeiro, Carlos. With Covid-19, May becomes the month with the most deaths in the history of Brazil. Available at: Link-1 Access on September 22, 2020

4 Kardec, Allan. The Gospel According to Spiritism. Chap. XXIII IT 7.8. Translation by Matheus Rodrigues de Camargo. 1st edition. 40th reprint. Capivari. Sao Paulo. Publisher EME. 2000.

5 Luiz, Andre (Spirit). Workers of Eternal Life. [a psychographics by] Francisco Candido Xavier. 29th edition. Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian Spiritist Federation. 2004.

Ministry of Health publishes guidelines for funerals and burialsAvailable at: Link-2 Access on September 22, 2020

7 Kardec, Allan. The Gospel According to Spiritism. Chapter XXVIII. IT 61. Translation by Matheus Rodrigues de Camargo. 1st edition. 40th reprint. Capivari. Sao Paulo. Publisher EME. 2000.


 

Translation:
Eleni Frangatos - eleni.moreira@uol.com.br

 
 

     
     

O Consolador
 Revista Semanal de Divulgação Espírita