#Christian funerals

[globalindeed]

Most Common Questions about Cremation and Their Answers

The past two decades have seen an immense rise in the concept of services, so much so that funeral homes are also now highlighting this as a premium service they offer. People use this service more than burial or any other method of disposing of the body as it is less time-consuming and less harmful to the environment. There are different questions in mind related to cremation services that people have no idea of home to ask for answers.

Cremation Faqs What Is a Cremation?

An essential part of funeral homes services, cremation is the process of reducing the human body using high heat and flame. However, it is not the final disposition, and in some countries, it is also not considered a type of funeral.

Is A Casket Needed?

If funeral homes directors advocate the use of caskets, you should immediately look for other funeral homes because caskets are not needed at all for this service. However, you can use an alternative container that can be made of wood or cardboard, and also, there is an option of not using a container.

Is Embalming Required?

Strictly 'no', and it is the responsibility of funeral homes to guide you that it is against the law for them to use this process or advocate it for you.

Can The Body Be Viewed Without Embalming?

Yes, funeral homes and crematories definitely allow family members to view the deceased for the final time prior to cremation.

What If The Family Wants To Witness The Cremation?

This request can be forwarded to funeral home directors, and they will have no other alternative than to allow the family to witness the process. They can be around the cremation chamber where the body is placed and see the process till the end.

Can An Urn Brought Into The Church?

Protestant churches allow people to bring the urn during the memorial services, and also catholic churches allow the remains to be present during the memorial mass.

What Can Be Done With The Cremains?

The cremains of the body are pulverised after the cremation process, given a form of powder, and handed over to the family. They are responsible for what can be done, but state laws also come into play. You can bury the cremains in the garden or interred in a columbarium or kept at home or scattered in a field or some river nearby, of course, with the authority's permission.

[divinum-pacis]

October 20, 2023: Greek Orthodox Archbishop Alexios holds a funeral prayer for Palestinians who were killed in Israeli airstrikes that hit a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)

[10yrsyart]

(alternative music only video)

"Can anything separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (-) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loves us.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our fears about tomorrow- not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below- indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 8:35,37-39

transcript:

Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste It all revolves around you And there's no mountain too high No river too wide Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side Storm clouds may gather And stars may collide But I love you Until the end of time Come what may Come what may I will love you Until my dying day

[homoqueerjewhobbit]

I'm allowed to make this joke, but I love that Jewish death rituals are like:

"Pfeh, for what should I spend $12,000 on a big fekakte box they see only for five minutes before they cover it with dirt?"

"Don't waste my good suit what might fit my nephew Lev if the bum should ever even try to get a real job!"

"Embalming? Don't mind me, I'll rot in the dark."

[69constellationsinatrenchcoat]

Fun fact: the word 'chronic' means it's lifelong! and the phrase 'chronic illness' means I'm stuck with it until it takes me out, or I take me out. So, to the woman bothering me at a close family friend's funeral today about 'whether it goes away' can shut the hell up. Chronic means I'm stuck with it. Telling me I can think my way out of it when I have things physically wrong with my body will not do anything. No, it's not going away, and praying and trying to force me out of my wheelchair won't do jack-shit (except make me want to break your nose). Trust me, I have tried almost everything under the sun by now.

Besides, I've come to the conclusion if god/s exist, they decided I'm better used as a disability advocate than wasting their precious time on fixing the fact I'm in crippling pain constantly :DDD

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Oswald Achenbach (German, 1827-1905) Funeral in Palestrina, ca.1857

[nepentheisms]

This is it; this is the Big 'Un that's been knocking around in my head since the bookclub's inception.

When it comes to mentions of the biblical parallels in Trigun, I've seen that Wolfwood is most frequently discussed as a Judas figure. I think it's important, though, to note that carrying out the Judas role to Vash's Jesus was a job he was ordered to take, and it's one he went through the motions of following while having the ulterior motive of killing the one who gave him the order in the first place. In fact, when Wolfwood does turn traitor, it's actually Knives and the GHG he chooses to betray. He ends up Judas-ing the guys who assigned him to the Judas mission - that's some sweet irony!

And as Wolfwood's time in the story draws to an end, he takes the path completely contrary to Judas' ignominious end by suicide. He instead takes a leap of faith and dares to place his trust in Vash's vision for humanity's future. His faith remains imperfect, but in the midst of all his doubt and uncertainty, he persists anyway.

This last stand of his becomes Wolfwood's ultimate affirmation of his devotion to Vash's ideals, and he effectively becomes a martyr, which places him far outside the image of Judas. In fact, I think that when we look back on his character arc as a whole, we can see how it more neatly lines up in trajectory with the story of another apostle: Peter.

Like Peter in the gospel narratives, Wolfwood finds it difficult to have the kind of faith that is asked of him. Vash goes into his battle with Rai Dei insisting to Wolfwood that he can finish the conflict without taking a life, but Wolfwood intervenes against Vash's wishes because he was worried about Rai Dei's next move. Peter sees Jesus walking on water and goes out to join him, but with the rough winds blowing around him, Peter becomes overwhelmed by fear and begins to sink. After these failures of faith in their respective stories, Peter and Wolfwood are then chastised by the men they follow.

Matthew 14:31 (NRSV) - Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

And it's these struggles with doubt, these moments of fear and cynicism overtaking faith that are so instrumental to the Christian perspective on salvation with its message of "You are flawed by nature, but you are loved beyond all comprehension nonetheless. Accept this love that it may save you and change you."

In Peter's case, although he is singled out multiple times for his failures (e.g. denying Jesus three times), he still holds a special place of prominence among Jesus' disciples. The 21st chapter of John features a conversation between Peter and the resurrected Jesus in which Peter affirms his love for Jesus three times (a reversal of the three times he denied Jesus), and Jesus responds by instructing Peter to care for his flock. After Jesus ascends to Heaven, Peter continues the work set out for him in building the early church until his eventual martyrdom, which, according to church tradition, occurs via upside-down crucifixion (see Caravaggio's rendition here). Interestingly, Wolfwood's martyrdom also involves lots of grievous bodily harm being dealt by crosses.

So the saint gets brought to death's doorstep, and that brings us to the infamous whiskey bottle

Others have already pointed out that "The Bride" likely refers to the Bride of Christ. This excerpt from the Catechism of the Catholic Church sums up the concept:

The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also implies the distinction of the two within a personal relationship. This aspect is often expressed by the image of bridegroom and bride. The theme of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church was prepared for by the prophets and announced by John the Baptist. The Lord referred to himself as the "bridegroom." The Apostle speaks of the whole Church and of each of the faithful, members of his Body, as a bride "betrothed" to Christ the Lord so as to become but one spirit with him. The Church is the spotless bride of the spotless Lamb.

Now Peter is of particular importance when talking about the Church as an institution, because in the Catholic tradition, Peter is believed to have been granted a distinguished position of authority as the very foundation of Jesus' church, and every Pope is considered a successor to Peter in their occupation of the Church's highest office.

So Peter = Pope = the head of the Bride of Christ. And if we take the reading of Wolfwood as a Peter analogue.... you see where we're going. The Bride of Christ has been sanctified through a powerful demonstration of sacrificial love and prepared for the wedding to the bridegroom, but right here Yasuhiro Nightow subverts the biblical metaphor to devastating effect. The wedding doesn't come to fruition, because Vash can't bring himself to step into the role of the heavenly bridegroom. In this moment, he just feels all too painfully human in his grief. Wolfwood ascends - celebrated across the sky by those he saved with his selfless love, but Vash descends - acting as an ordinary person mourning the loss of a loved one.

John 13:36 (NRSV) - Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now...."

[cerealbishh]

some pics of the outer range s2 cast hanging out(credit to chefseanvm, jmquinteros, christianjames_official, ybutterfly2, the.pbread, impoots, thetamarapodemski, and isa.arraiza on ig)

[deathwhoregutfucker]

Black Metal/DSBM High School AU Headcanons!!

this was sitting in my docs for a hot minute so here yall go. it's really nothing much, i don't do a lot of high school au's but maybe i should... i might expand on some of these headcanons too (ESPECIALLY THE SD x GRAF ONEEE)

Vargelle 

Enemies to lovers, Varg would bully the fuck out of him and then they would eventually fall in love (because of course they would)

Varg would confess to him that he’s into him, which is the reason why he would bully him so much (for attention that is, because this is Varg Vikernes we’re talking about, he lives for attention)

Varg would always want him to cut class and just spend time with him whenever Varg would have a free peri at first, but he would still go every time

It would be worth getting in trouble to spend time with Varg

They would usually sit under the bleachers and smoke, maybe make out and pray that they won’t get caught

Pelle would take him to the woods and mess around with him too

I feel like at first, Varg wouldn’t want to be seen with him at school

But everyone knows that he’s a homo, he’ll get over it eventually

Eurodead

Enemies to lovers/one sided enemies to lovers

Pelle would hate Øystein (because he’s antisocial) and Øystein would DESPERATELY try to befriend him

Especially whenever people would bully him :(

He would always come to his defense and protect him, especially when he would get really fucked up

He would always take him to the nurse or patch up his wounds after school

They would start talking in their chemistry class, Øystein would realize that Pelle is struggling and he would offer to help him

At first he denied him, but he eventually would let Øystein him him with his school work

Øystein would invite Per to his house for dinner (because him mom was sick of hearing him gush about it for ages and not actually meet the boy)

His family would be weirded out by him since he doesn’t really talk to anyone aside from Øystein

It would take a while for Øystein’s family to warm up to him, but he would eventually

Necrohammer

Friends to lovers, but probably best friends to lovers, lets be real here

They would have sleepovers all of the time, so they would eventually get cuddly with each other whenever they’d sleep together

And being that close to each other wouldn’t be that big of a deal since they were already in such a close friendship

Which would turn into kissing each other goodnight, but of course, not in a gay way…right? It’s just what friends do?? Right?

WRONG!! They’re sooo gay for each other, and everyone would already assume that they’re dating in the first place because they would be some of the only people who were out at school to begin with, and because they spent so much time together

They would make little gifts for each other all of the time, and they would write songs for each other too

They would go to parties together (on the very rare chance that they get invited) and they would usually just sit in a corner making out with each other

They’re just happy and gay and adorable and I just love that for them so fucking much

Eurovarg

MORTAL ENEMIES TO LOVERS

Eurovarg (both headcanon and canon) is a great example of how hate and love is very similar

Varg drove eight hours to kill Euro, he clearly had to care about him deeply in order to put in that much fucking effort. Come on now. 

Again, Varg would start bullying him for attention, you know how this goes…

They would wind up in detention together and catch feelings for each other (recurring theme…)

And the rest is history

Varg would put lots of effort into their relationship too

He would always go out of his way to please Øystein in every single way possible

He would always hold him, not just because he loves him, but because he’s possessive

Especially when they out in public at a show

“You’re so little and I don’t want people taking advantage of you” Varg would tell him

“The only person I have to worry about is you.”

And Varg would pick him up all of the time and Øystein would get all pissy because of it

Faustriz

I feel like they’re be friends to lovers, maybe

They’d be assigned as partners together for some project and they’d grow to like each other more and more

Fenriz would make the first move, he’d kiss him and they’d make out

Then he’d ask him out :D

DEFINITELY grumpy sunshine, I couldn’t think of a better duo to represent it 

Fenriz would always make fun of Faust and his (extremely gorgeous and cunning) resting bitch face

He would pout and scowl and just be a little bitchy bitch in general, and Fenriz would always try to make him laugh

But he would eventually crack and lighten up

Fenriz would always make sure that his hickies were showing after every night they would spend together

Faust would get embarrassed at first, but he would wear them proudly after a while and everyone would ask who gave them to him

I love Faustriz so much

Ramirez x Graf

I feel like they would be friends since they’re the only metal guys at school

Your typical depressed loners with no friends and girls never talk to them

Which isn’t that much of an issue since they’re gay for each other

At first, they’d just hang out to have someone to be around, but they would grow to like each other more over time

Ramirez would invite Graf over to his house and he would play with Graf’s hair (and he would always braid it too)

Sometimes he’d put little bows in it (but David would always rip them out despite loving them)

They wouldn’t have any other friends, and everyone would (rightfully) accuse them of dating

They would cut class to make out with each other in the bathroom, and they’d probably get caught quite often too

Ramirez would love taking Graf to parties only to get him drunk and watch all of the other guys force his drunk self into one of the bedrooms to use him 

(After Ramirez slips him a roofie of course!)

But that’s besides the point…

Kimgraf

Kim would be painting in art class, Graf would notice how talented he was and compliment him on it

But Kim wouldn’t really care that much at first, and Graf only took the class because he absolutely had to or else he wouldn’t graduate

And he would always sit next to Kim and try to copy whatever he was doing (to no avail)

Sometimes Kim would show him some tips, even putting his hand on David’s to guide it whenever he’d help him

David found it kind of weird that Kim doesn’t really talk, but that would only make him more interested in him

Sometimes, they would go and hang out in the woods after school to smoke since they both loved being outdoors

They’d go to Kim’s house and he would make food for Graf whenever he would stay for dinner

They would end up falling for each other, they give of slow burn vibes

Chrislas (Christian x Niklas)

Niklas would be up Christian for no reason one day, get sent to the office with him to tell the principal what happened, and the principal would give both of them detention

During detention, Christian couldn’t help but notice how Niklas was looking at him…

After, Christian would ask him why he was looking at him like that, he would push him up against the locker and make out with him

After that, Niklas would make it his duty to torment him as much as possible, and Christian would give it right back to him

Over time, Christian would ask why Niklas was bullying him, he’d tell him that he wants to sleep with him

Christian would give in and let him fuck him “just because he wanted the bullying to stop” 

They would be in the boys bathroom cutting class, Niklas would push him up against one of the walls in there

But of course, Because it was Niklas, it wouldn’t be in one of the stalls

And they would probably get caught too. Christian just can’t keep his mouth shut.

[animepopheart]

Y'all already know how much of a Frieren fanboy I am, so—big shocker—I wrote an article about the series in relation to faith. It's up at Love Thy Nerd. Please go check it out!

[globalchristendom]

The Church of Saint Porphyrius was built in the 12th century AD and is on the site of a previous church that existed since the 5th century AD. The church itself was only minorly damaged, but a building on the church campus sheltering Gazans was destroyed and several Gazans were killed.

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I somehow was at my own funeral as a ghost and my grandpa (who irl is very Christian) insisted on playing Santa Baby but with the lyrics changed to Santa Daddy. I kept trying to get people to stop the song and it was really hard because they only ever heard my voice as like a faint memory or a cold spell.

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

Leverage 3x15 - "The Big Bang Job"

[artofkhaos404]

A tip for those still in highschool:

Don't spend the highlights of your highschool experience with people that will dampen those memories. Please select the people in your life carefully, more so than I did, so that you can look back on those memories and smile. Differentiate who stuck with you through the hard times, who values your honesty, who tells you what you need to hear rather than what you want to hear, who brings you closer to Christ, who is loyal to you no matter what, who never talks shit about you, who believes in self improvement, who sees how much you care and appreciates you for it, who has their priorities straight, who reminds you what you're worth even when you forget... and who is all talk.

Coming from someone who is deathly afraid of being alone, it is always better to be on your own than to be surrounded by liars and manipulators and fake "I love you"s.

Because you are who you hang out with. Everything you hate about them is what you will become. And even after you come to your senses, discover your worth and emerge from the waves of half truths you were trapped under, because of the time already spent with them, their stench will remain.

And it will drive you mad.

Pray for discernment, my friends. There are few wounds in life as painful as betrayal.

[papayasapphic]

best catholic boy!!!

[im-not-a-l0ser]

I think I'm unintentionally giving myself exposure therapy regarding Grace. That queer poll? I absolutely, 100% see her as a cishet person. But, someone (specifically @androgynous-sack-of-flesh-3 ) talked about how she just genuinely doesn't think about it because it's not really brought to her attention that it matters, she's busy with being a terror on society basically

Which, made me think. Both of my parents are greygender. Both of them. Both of my parents were also indoctrinated into a christian cult, into which I was born and lived in for over a decade.

So, here's my first official queer Grace headcannon. Grace is greygender. She doesn't understand gender stuff, and just follows her agab because that's how she was raised, that's how she was directed by God.

So... what do you guys think?