Happy Tuesday to all of you. I pray that everyone is having a great week so far. I apologize for not posting yesterday. It was just a mentally exhausting day so I decided to get my thoughts together. But in the words of the Williams Brother's, "I'm Still Here" so let's make it do what it do.
There has been a recent trend happening lately that has been flying under the radar, but still has a lot of people in an uproar. Cemeteries. The "resting place" for the dead. Arlington Cemetery has come under fire for "misplacing" bodies, mislabeled gravesites and moving graves without the knowledge of family members. Arlington isn't the only cemetery that this has happened to, but it is the biggest name. There have been a number of cemeteries that have come under fire for this in the past few years and while it is a tragic situation, Truthfully Speaking, so what?? And before all of you think that I am some cold and insensitive man, please read the rest of this post.
I have lost MANY people in my short life on this Earth. Some have been VERY close to me. I have NEVER revisited a gravesite after someone has been laid to rest. NEVER. Now, there are some that I still talk to because I often feel there presence, but I have never gone back to where they were laid in the ground. I didn't figure out why until today though. And maybe this revelation is why I don't get appalled by missing graves or misconduct by a funeral home, crematorium or cemetery.
This statement may offend some people, but by now you should know I am going to say what I feel is the Truth. Truthfully Speaking, they are gone. Everything that person is, was or will be is gone. Plain and simple, there is NOTHING there. My Memorial Day is spent reflecting on memories, not visiting dead times. To me, relationships live in the heart, in the spirit and not in graves. People go to gravesites to leave flowers, toys, have conversations and they are doing is holding on to dead things. Listen, there were only two times mentioned in the Bible of anyone revisiting a grave. Mary, Martha and Jesus went to visit Lazarus. And a couple of the disciples went to visit Jesus. In the former, Jesus commanded Lazarus to rise because things that are living can't be buried. In the latter, Jesus was not there because again, the living can't be buried.
Truthfully Speaking, the same way we can't let go of a physical body is the same way we are in our everyday relationships so I do understand the ritual. A lot of us keep revisiting dead places in our lives. We insist on going back to places where the spirit of a person no longer dwells. Where love is not present. Where there are only lovely bones. Truthfully Speaking, it doesn't matter where my shell is, can you still feel me? Can you still hear me? Can you still smell me? Is my love still dwelling within you. If the answer is still yes when I am gone, then my body no longer matters. That is my Truth and I am sticking to it. Remember, Love God, Love You and Love people.
