ritual 4 March 2008
I am not a ‘believer’ as you will all know. By that I mean I don’t belong to a formal religious group anymore ( I was dragged up Catholic, which is great for a writer and actor, really, as you always have a wellspring of guilt handy for use – I actually mean that in a good way, it’s a boon for a creative) and I think when you shuffle off this mortal coil that’s it. My Dad used to say that it would be a great bonus though to be proved wrong on that, and I agree with him, and he knows all about it now one way or the other. However there are things that it’s very comforting to have from a church and the ritual by which we send our loved ones on is one of them. It’s so helpful to have a formality around what is one of the strangest times in anyone’s life. It gets those grieving from point A to point B and keeps them moving and busy and then another day is done and they have made it through however diminished life is because of the loss. And it can be very beautiful, as Maria Donaldson’s funeral was today. I know all of this can be done without a trip to a church and I have been to some great funerals done in that way. But for those who like or need tradition (and of course for those who believe in a God and life eternal in the hereafter) a church funeral is hard to top.
