1900
The People's Forum
How can a minister of the Gospel best perform his duty when asked to conduct the funeral of a saloonkeeper? — (Rev.) DAVID JONES, Wash.
As we answer this question there lies before us a ten-page letter from another minister who has just preached such a sermon, and he is bewailing the fact that it has brought about dissensions in his church which cut his financial support by half. His wife and children are in danger of going without proper food and clothes, and he is threatened with tar and feathers. "What did he say?" you ask. Well, here is a selection from his sermon, which will give you an idea of its general tenor:
"Good people, you have come here today, not only in honor of your dead, but in honor of our social, civil and religious institutions. You have asked the church and clergy for burial services, and while it is against the laws and constitutions of some churches to give burial services to those outside of their membership, I want to say for the benefit of our own members, who have objected to using the church on this occasion, on account of the business of the deceased, that it is not for us to deny funeral or burial services to any, but we are to serve all willingly, reserving the right to make them an occasion of benefit to the congregation and comfort to the mourners.
"If you think the business of this man is wrong, I want to show you that he had the highest authority within the gift of this country to justify and defend him in the prosecution thereof. He had the silent if not the open consent and endorsement of nearly every business, professional and official man in the city, besides a large lucrative patronage among the common people of the community. Therefore if he was wrong then you are wrong also, and if you think he alone will perish for the wrong, in the language of the text, I tell you nay; but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish."
The minister who speaks plainly at a funeral will always be criticized. There are many, therefore, who would refuse to conduct such a funeral service, especially over a man who has lived a notoriously sinful life. They would reserve the lessons which might be drawn for a more appropriate occasion. There is no fixed law of propriety in such matters. Circumstances must always be taken into consideration. A minister should be guided by the best religious sentiment in his church and by his heartfelt convictions after earnest prayer for guidance.
—The Ram's Horn, March 17, 1900, p. 8.
Showing posts with label funerals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label funerals. Show all posts
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Unlucky Peacock Feathers
1905
Peacock's feathers are said to bring ill luck. The origin of this tradition is interesting. It is found in Palgrave's work on central and east Arabia, where the traveler says that, according to Mohammedan tradition, the peacock opened the wicket of Paradise to admit the devil, received a very ample share of the devil's own punishment.
Hindu Customs
It is in order that sons may perform the father's funeral ceremonies each year that it is ordained that the son shall inherit the father's property. It is a rule of our faith that by the son's performance of such acts the father obtains heaven. For this reason, if he has no male child, the father will adopt a boy in order that, after his own death, his funeral ceremonies may be performed by the adopted son. — Mysore Standard, Bangalore.
Visions
It was the woman who dreamed that her husband had given her the goods for a new gown who waked to a realizing sense of what the poet meant by "the baseless fabric of this vision."
Peacock's feathers are said to bring ill luck. The origin of this tradition is interesting. It is found in Palgrave's work on central and east Arabia, where the traveler says that, according to Mohammedan tradition, the peacock opened the wicket of Paradise to admit the devil, received a very ample share of the devil's own punishment.
Hindu Customs
It is in order that sons may perform the father's funeral ceremonies each year that it is ordained that the son shall inherit the father's property. It is a rule of our faith that by the son's performance of such acts the father obtains heaven. For this reason, if he has no male child, the father will adopt a boy in order that, after his own death, his funeral ceremonies may be performed by the adopted son. — Mysore Standard, Bangalore.
Visions
It was the woman who dreamed that her husband had given her the goods for a new gown who waked to a realizing sense of what the poet meant by "the baseless fabric of this vision."
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Domestic Woe Caused By Phrase in Bible
March 1914
NEWARK, N. J. — Before Vice Chancellor Emery John P. Hammer, who is seeking a divorce from Anna Hammer, gave as the basic cause of his marital troubles his wife's too literal interpretation of the biblical injunction, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and cleave unto his wife."
"We often had words on account of my mother," Hammer explained, and so I got in the way of going to see her without saying anything about it to my wife. She used to say that, according to the Bible, after a man married he had no business to see his father and mother or other relations, but should stay by his wife.
"When my stepfather died in December, 1910, I attended to the funeral arrangements, as my mother was too old to do it herself, being about 80, and when I got home my wife said to me, 'Did you have a good time?'
"Then I told her that while before I had been going to see my mother secretly, thereafter I would do so openly."
This declaration. Hammer testified, brought on a serious estrangement, and his wife finally, on March 24, 1911, left him, after a violent quarrel.
NEWARK, N. J. — Before Vice Chancellor Emery John P. Hammer, who is seeking a divorce from Anna Hammer, gave as the basic cause of his marital troubles his wife's too literal interpretation of the biblical injunction, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and cleave unto his wife."
"We often had words on account of my mother," Hammer explained, and so I got in the way of going to see her without saying anything about it to my wife. She used to say that, according to the Bible, after a man married he had no business to see his father and mother or other relations, but should stay by his wife.
"When my stepfather died in December, 1910, I attended to the funeral arrangements, as my mother was too old to do it herself, being about 80, and when I got home my wife said to me, 'Did you have a good time?'
"Then I told her that while before I had been going to see my mother secretly, thereafter I would do so openly."
This declaration. Hammer testified, brought on a serious estrangement, and his wife finally, on March 24, 1911, left him, after a violent quarrel.
Monday, May 28, 2007
No Funerals on Sunday
Indiana, 1906
Cemetery in Muncie, Ind., Will Bar Burials on Holy Days and Holidays
Muncie, Ind. — Heeding a popular cry against Sunday funerals, the trustees of Beach Grove cemetery, in Muncie, have issued an order forbidding any burial in that cemetery on any Sunday, on January 1, May 30 or December 25, of any year except in cases of great necessity or contagious diseases. This order is not to take effect, however, until the first day of next year. After that time, therefore, if there be Sunday funerals in Muncie, the burials must be made in some country cemetery or in some other town.
The cemetery trustees give the following as their reasons for this action: The Sunday funeral disturbs the quiet of the Lord's day, as it is frequently attended by bands of music and by hundreds of curiosity seekers, and is "often accompanied by an evident desire for display on the part of the supposed or real mourners;" if funeral services are held in a church, they frequently disturb the regular service of that church; cemeteries are most often visited on Sundays and a funeral serves to excite morbid curiosity and causes visitors in the burying ground to trample upon graves and to "disregard the decorum that should attend such occasions;" the Sunday funeral is in violation of the decalogue which says: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," because it necessitates work on the part of the cemetery employes.
Muncie ministers are heartily in favor of the plan and it is believed the public will be, also.
Cemetery in Muncie, Ind., Will Bar Burials on Holy Days and Holidays
Muncie, Ind. — Heeding a popular cry against Sunday funerals, the trustees of Beach Grove cemetery, in Muncie, have issued an order forbidding any burial in that cemetery on any Sunday, on January 1, May 30 or December 25, of any year except in cases of great necessity or contagious diseases. This order is not to take effect, however, until the first day of next year. After that time, therefore, if there be Sunday funerals in Muncie, the burials must be made in some country cemetery or in some other town.
The cemetery trustees give the following as their reasons for this action: The Sunday funeral disturbs the quiet of the Lord's day, as it is frequently attended by bands of music and by hundreds of curiosity seekers, and is "often accompanied by an evident desire for display on the part of the supposed or real mourners;" if funeral services are held in a church, they frequently disturb the regular service of that church; cemeteries are most often visited on Sundays and a funeral serves to excite morbid curiosity and causes visitors in the burying ground to trample upon graves and to "disregard the decorum that should attend such occasions;" the Sunday funeral is in violation of the decalogue which says: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," because it necessitates work on the part of the cemetery employes.
Muncie ministers are heartily in favor of the plan and it is believed the public will be, also.
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