Many thanks to Paula Jardine for sharing this song with me. Richard Laviolette is obviously one of many who feel that traditional funeral services are no longer relevant to their lives and values.
Funeral service professionals who truly desire to meet the needs of people with this point of view can help them by not only tolerating this kind of service, but by reaching out and helping people make a homegrown service meaningful through the use of ritual, structure and personalization.
Often without guidance or the help of a Celebrant, homegrown services can devolve into just another party, failing to meet the needs of the grieving. Unfortunately these needs have not been met for years by many funeral directors and preachers either.
My hope is that all services, religious and secular, formal and informal, will one day be crafted to meet the unique needs of the families who engage in them.
