Date/Time
Date(s) - 03/15/20
12:00 am

Location
Timberland Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

Categories No Categories

4:00 PM Forum: 

‘Going Out Green’  A discussion of  ‘green’ burial’  as a caring, loving and compassionate alternative method for after death care of the body and choices for family involvement—   by Margie Phillips

Green Burial allows full body interment into the ground in a manner that does not inhibit decomposition.  The three top defining characteristics of any green burial are:  absence of a vault, non-toxic preparation of the body , and use of containers made of organic materials.  Green burials provide families with a rich, meaningful, and healing experience while furthering legitimate environmental and societal aims such as protecting worker health, reducing carbon emissions, conserving natural resources, and preserving native habitat.  

Western attitudes of death and disposition of the earthly body have become the ‘invisible death’.  Choices for the final  disposition of our body is changing from ’that’s the way we’ve always done it’.  There is an  emerging yearning for simpler, more authentic end-of-life practices, for finding ways to honor ourselves and our loved ones by choosing exit methods that will leave a legacy well beyond family photos and household furnishing.  It’s about love and honor for the bodily house in which each has maneuvered this landscape of life.  It’s about being an example and teaching the next generations about values and respect for one another and the earth.     

To quote Elizabeth Kugler-Ross,  “Dying is an integral part of life, as natural and predictable as being born.  But whereas birth is cause for celebration, death has become a dreaded and unspeakable issue to be avoided by every means possible in our modern society…It is difficult to accept death in this society because it is unfamiliar.  In spite of the fact that it happens all the time, we never see it.  When person dies in a hospital, he is quickly whisked away;  a magical disappearing act does away with the evidence before it could upset anyone.”

5:30 PM Service:

“Changing Landscapes and green burial” Margie Phillips.  thegivinglight@att.net