Urns Blog

When someone you know has lost a loved one, you know that you should always try to show your support.  This is a very difficult time for the individual and their family.  Transitioning through a death in the family is not an event that you can prepare for and when that time arrives, it can be devastating.

Therefore, if your friend has lost someone, they will definitely appreciate whatever support you can offer.  You may be wondering what you can do for your friend in his or her time of need.

Although there are a number of options, such as a mass card or flowers, one way you can help immensely is by attending the viewing of the lost loved one.  The viewing is the point in time during the funeral process where the realization of loss finally sets in.  If you were to be physically present for your friend during this time, it can go a long way to help with mourning processes.  When you are in person you can offer a shoulder to cry on, a hug, a joke, a special memory of the deceased, or simply someone to talk to.  You may feel uncomfortable going to viewings, but think of what your friend is going through.  Take some time to show your support.

If you are the person who is actually experiencing the loss, then we at Urns.com offer our condolences to you and your family.

Losing a loved one is an extremely difficult transition in anyone’s life.  Not only do you have to come to terms with the actual passing, but you also need to address all of the funeral arrangements.  It is important to be around friends and family in such emotional times.

Even though the process of making funeral arrangements is distressing, there are some ways in which the process can become moving.  As you are deciding on the final resting place for your loved one, you could look to special memorials or keepsakes that you can use to help commemorate your family member.

An example of a moving and elegant resting place is this rose colored classic brass urn.  These memorials can serve as fitting resting places in relation to the type of life the person lived.  If your loved one was a gardener, florist, or simply enjoyed the color of roses, then this can be a fitting tribute.  At Urns.com, we have a number of different Urns can that be used in similar manners as elegant memorials.

We’ve recently had the great honor of meeting the good people at ElegantMemorials.com.  Although a Funeral Urn is a wonderful way to keep a loved one close at all times, ElegantMemorials.com can help you to create an even more meaningful memorial tribute.

At ElegantMemorials.com, you can find what are known as Funeral Program Templates.  These templates are designed to act both as a memorial and tribute to the person that has passed and can be given to all of the friends and family members who attend the funeral service.  These funeral templates include a personalized photo, comforting images, and the details of the funeral service.  Inside the program you can include the order of events for the service and the obituary.  These programs make a wonderful keepsake for friends and family as they leave their loved one for the last time.

ElegantMemorials.com’s Blog also offers many wonderful suggestions that you can use to personalize a funeral or memorial service.  There also a number of general pieces of advice that you can follow while going through the unfortunate process of planning a memorial or funeral for a loved one.

When we lose a loved one, it is natural to want to honor their memory.  Although there are a lot of ways to accomplish this, one way that can be especially meaningful to both friends and family, is through a memorial service.

A memorial service is a touching tribute to the life of the family member that you’ve lost.  You can invite individuals who were close to your loved one to help share in the celebration of his or her life.  You can include pictures for everyone to look at throughout the service.  You can also ask friends and family members to say a few words about good memories that they retain, or ways that the person you are honoring impacted their lives.  Sharing memories is a beautiful way to help keep the person alive in all of your hearts.

If you are interested in having a memorial service for a lost love one, please contact a church official at your local place of worship to find out more information.

When we lose a loved one, it is a very difficult time.  The only place we can find any degree of relief is through the support of friends and family.  Furthermore, if you know someone who is experiencing a loss, you feel the innate desire to try to be there to help them through the transition.

But what if you live far away from your friend who is grieving?  What if you simply can not make it to the viewing or funeral service? There is still a way that you can show support from a far.

The Roman Catholic Church offers you the opportunity to have a Mass held in the honor of someone who has passed.  During that specific Mass, prayers will be said with the special intention of honoring the deceased.

If this is something you’d like to do to show support, you can approach your Church office and request a Mass card.  Most churches will ask for a small donation for the card.  Then you fill out the card and you can mail it to the person who is experiencing loss.  This way your grieving friend will know that you are still there for support and they can rest a bit easier knowing that their loved one is being prayed for.  For more information please visit your Church’s office.

If you have recently lost a loved one who loved the water or the sea, then we may have a suggestion that can serve as a fitting commemoration.  Our line of biodegradable shell urns can provide you with a perfect means to allow your loved one rest amidst the waves.

These urns are 100% biodegradable and are made from earth-friendly materials, so they will not put any dangerous chemicals into the water.  They also come with a water soluble plastic bag and biodegradable glue, which makes for the easy loading of the ashes.  The biodegradable shell urn is also designed to float on the surface of the water for five minutes before descending beneath the waves.

A biodegradable shell urn is the perfect way to honor the memory of a sailor, fisherman, or any aquatic enthusiast.  If your family member loved the sea, then this urn would allow them to be one with the sea for eternity.

You can find these beautiful urns, plus many others, at Urns.com.

The next form of faith that we will cover in our examination is the Church of Scientology.

The Scientologists believe that the defining part of every human being is their soul.  In this faith, the soul is called “the thetan.”  In Scientology, the belief is that the thetan is billions of years old and that they pass from one life to the next.  There is no judgment of the soul and the transition is an automatic process.

Being that the most important aspect of a person is the thetan, there is not a lot of emphasis put on the actual body when a death has occurred.  Therefore, Scientology doctrine does not have any formal practices in terms of the disposal of the body.  Both cremation and burial are accepted within the faith.  The funeral services are generally very simple and sometimes the grave site does not contain a marker.  The founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, was cremated and had his ashes cast into the sea.

When the survivors of a deceased family member start to grieve, the Church offers a number of counseling services.  Anyone who has questions about the burial or counseling processes are encouraged to speak with Church officials.

As we continue our look at how various religions address cremation, we will next talk about the Zoroastrian faith.  The Zoroastrian form of burial is quite unique when compared to the religions that we have already examined.

Like Hinduism, Zoroastrians believe in respecting the elements of nature.  Unlike Hinduism, the Zoroastrians do not look to the element of fire when it comes to burial.  They actually look to the element of wind.

Zoroastrian faith teaches that when a body is burned, it actually pollutes the element of fire, whereas a buried body will pollute the element of earth, and someone who is buried at sea will pollute the element of water.  Therefore, the element of wind is used to reclaim the body.

When someone dies, a series of funeral rites are performed.  Then the body is placed into a “Tower of Silence.”  This is a place that is sacred, but also open to the skies so that wind and nature can break down the body.  Once the decomposition is complete, the remaining bones are interred.

This process has raised some questions, particularly in those situations where the rite is performed in a highly populated area.  This has lead to other forms of burial, such as cremation, to be accepted in certain situations.  Therefore, it is again recommended that you speak with a church official if you are considering cremation.

The next religious practice will we look at in our discussion of religions and cremation is the Baha’i faith.

The Baha’i faith is a monotheistic religion that was instituted in 19^th century Persia. Its chief decree was the unity of all mankind on the spiritual level.

The Baha’i followers believe that the soul is immortal and indestructible.  They also feel the time the human body spends on earth, is a time for the soul to gather experiences and become more mature as it continues its journey back to God.  Therefore, death, although sad, is regarded as the next phase of the soul’s divine journey. It is merely a transition.

Baha’i practitioners maintain that the human body is a literal temple of the soul and that it should be treated with respect.  It is this notion that makes cremation forbidden within the confine of this faith’s teachings, unless it is required by war.  Instead, the body must be laid in the ground to rest and pass through the natural process of decomposition.

As always, if you are considering cremation, we strongly encourage you to seek council from a religious official.

The next faith that we will look at in our examination of religious cultures is Buddhism.  Buddhism is another example of a religion that utilizes cremation as the preferred form of burial, according to the Theravada tradition.  However, in some cultures, if the deceased’s parents are still alive, a normal burial may be preferred.  This is more of a cultural process though and does not reflect any significant Buddhist teaching.

Buddhism teaches reincarnation, which means that the soul is a constantly living entity that seeks out a new life after death.  The soul completes this cycle of birth and death until it reaches salvation through Nirvana.

When a Buddhist passes away, the reason that cremation is preferred is so that the soul can be released from the body.  If there is any delay in the process, or if loved ones develop a strong attachment to the deceased, it is believed that the reincarnation process will be interrupted.

The body is laid in state at the family’s home for a period of viewing.  Once this period is over, Buddhist monks perform the funeral rites and carry the coffin to the crematory, where the body is cremated.  Afterwords, the ashes are gathered an usually sprinkled over a river the by friends and family members.  In some cases, the ashes are placed in a cemetery.