Death, dying and other matters

There is no scientific evidence produced to verify that mediums can interact with the spirits of the dead. Not one single investigation into the activities of mediums over more than a hundred years revealed any evidence that it was possible to receive messages from dead people. Most investigations revealed that the mediums were in fact fraudsters. Harry Houdini a sceptic was never able to send a message back to his wife. Mind you some are still waiting for Harry to do something. None of the messages from the so called dearly departed are ever world shattering ….only something like this is your uncle Joe and tell your mother I’m OK. Some of these mediums are making money out of this charade.

Human beings all have one thing in common; death comes to us all. As with every living animal and plant on earth, death is inevitable. I can still remember as a child the moment I realised that someday I would not be here. Since then fleetingly, I have considered that fact, but not in any great detail. While death is not generally a topic of conversation around the dinner table, there is a whole industry out there engaged in trying to delay the inevitable and making money out of it.  We do not speak about the fact that we are trying to live longer, but a lot of us are out there exercising at gyms, eating the latest so called magic food and listening to and consulting health experts (that is if you don’t have your own personal trainer), taking pills and medications.

In the most part when the end comes, there is a lot of customary ritual all over the world in disposing of the departed. In the Western World a funeral has become another expensive exercise. Quite often insurance organisations want you to give them money so you can pay for your funeral later. You would be better saving it yourself and investing it rather than give it to someone else to make money out of your money. There is money in this death business obviously.

I can understand the need to stay healthy to enjoy life longer, but there is probably no need to pay for a lot of it unless you are needing medical attention. To pay through the teeth after death seems a bit superfluous for all concerned.

My father died some 15 years ago preceded some nearly 40 years by his wife with whom he always wanted to be with. I think we got a cheap deal with his departure: having been cremated we were left with his remains. My mother was Jewish and buried in a Jewish cemetery. My father was an Anglican so it was not a possibility that they could be buried together.

Not long after he died we decided we would take him to visit my mother’s grave along with the rest of the family on Boxing Day, the anniversary of their marriage. As it happened, in the 40 years since my mother’s death there must have been some movement in the grave and we noticed that there was a hole in the grave. So what did we do? I said a few appropriate words and poured him in. His wish to re-join his wife had been delivered.

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