More Than Meets the Eye, True Stories about Death, Dying, and Afterlife covers many aspects of the dying and grieving process and sheds light on euthanasia, suicide, near-death experience, and spirit visits after the passing of a loved one. ___________________________________________

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Dust to Dust, Ashes to Ashes

We come from dust; we return to dust.

We all come from the Goddess and to Her we shall return like a drop of rain flowing to the ocean.

The 1662 version of the Book of Common Prayer indicated the manner and text of the burial service:
While the earth shall be cast upon the body (indicating green burial without formaldehyde, concrete vaults, and metal caskets) by some standing by, the Priest shall say,

"Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed, we therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life . . . "

Ashes to ashes derives from the English Burial Service. The text of that service is adapted from the Biblical text, Genesis 3:19 (King James Version): "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."




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