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Humanist Funeral Service and Celebration
First published in 1940, this book has been helpful for over half a century to people not comfortable with the religious format of typical funeral services. The author, renowned humanist Corliss Lamont, last revised the text in 1977. Now, from her own experience as a humanist chaplain, Beth K. Lamont, widow of Corliss Lamont, has added two new scripts of humanist services, and has welcomed a new updated edition by humanist J. Sierra Oliva. Mr. Sierra has added new dimensions and a new emphasis on celebrating the deceased's life in these suggested scripts for last rites. As in earlier versions of the book, there are meditations and eloquent passages of prose and poetry to express appreciation, grief, and farewell when a friend or loved one dies. One may choose according to individual preference the text and music deemed to be most appropriate. The service is dignified and reminiscent of past relationships with the deceased, stressing love, the beauty of life, the human kinship with nature, and the naturalness of death. In the quest for solace at a time of grief, one can turn to this nonreligious service for security, comfort, and purpose in accepting the finality of the loss of a loved one.
66 pages, Paperback
First published April 26, 2011
2 people want to read
About the author
Corliss Lamont
96 books6 followersAmerican philosopher and Soviet Union apologist.
In 1930s he wrote a book praising the Soviet Union.
In 1936 he started the magazine Marxist Quarterly. In 1937 he endorsed Josef Stalin and the trial outcome of the Moscow trials against Leon Trotsky.
Lamont was a key founder of the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship. He served as its first chairman from 1943 to 1947.
Lamont ran for the U.S. Senate from New York, in 1952 on the American Labor ticket and come in fourth.
In 1959, Lamont became an enthusiastic supporter of Fidel Castro and his revolutionary government in Cuba.
In 1930s he wrote a book praising the Soviet Union.
In 1936 he started the magazine Marxist Quarterly. In 1937 he endorsed Josef Stalin and the trial outcome of the Moscow trials against Leon Trotsky.
Lamont was a key founder of the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship. He served as its first chairman from 1943 to 1947.
Lamont ran for the U.S. Senate from New York, in 1952 on the American Labor ticket and come in fourth.
In 1959, Lamont became an enthusiastic supporter of Fidel Castro and his revolutionary government in Cuba.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 14, 2024
A DIGNIFIED SET OF PROPOSALS AND IDEAS FOR A NON-RELIGIOUS SERVICE
Corliss Lamont (1902-1995), was a socialist philosopher, and a key figure in the Humanist movement, as well as the author of books such as 'Philosophy of Humanism,' 'Yes to Life: Memoirs of Corliss Lamont,' 'The Illusion of Immortality,' etc.
He wrote in the Foreword, "There has long been a widely felt need for a funeral service centering around a non-supernatural, Humanist philosophy of existence. The Humanist view... rejects the idea of personal immortality and interprets death as the final end of the individual conscious personality. The philosophy or religion of Humanism sets up the happiness and progress of mankind on this earth as the supreme goal of human endeavor." (Pg. 8)
He suggests, "A funeral service is, moreover, helpful in overcoming any sense of unreality about the death of a loved one. It brings out the finality of the parting with him, the fact that past relationships with him have been severed and that a new relationship of memory alone must be established. Rituals concerned with death are a form of art and should appeal to the aesthetic sense... they ought to be dignified, brief and reminiscent of the deep social ties in experience; they ought to avoid sentimentality... But funeral services should not try to avoid stirring up the emotions... the normal expression of grief can serve as a healthy release and purge of tension." (Pg. 8-9)
He provides meditations such as the following: "transiency and death itself are entirely natural and understandable in our universe... It is Nature's law that living organisms should eventually retire from the scene and so make way for newborn generations. In this sense life affirms itself THROUGH death... we accept as inevitable the eventual extinction of human individuals and the return of their bodies, indestructible in their ultimate elements, to the Nature that brought them forth. In death as in life we belong to Nature." (Pg. 15-16)
For a burial service, he proposes words such as, "We lay his body in that gentle earth which has been the chief support of Man since first he walked beneath the sun. To all human beings, to all living forms, the soil has ever provided the sustenance that is the staff of life. To that good earth we now give back the body of our friend..." (Pg. 21) Quotations from writers/poets such as Lucretius, Carl Sandburg, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Swinburne, Tagore, Santayana, Shelley, etc. are also recommended.
This book is a very useful one, in a field with very "limited" other resources. You might also want to explore Funerals Without God.
Corliss Lamont (1902-1995), was a socialist philosopher, and a key figure in the Humanist movement, as well as the author of books such as 'Philosophy of Humanism,' 'Yes to Life: Memoirs of Corliss Lamont,' 'The Illusion of Immortality,' etc.
He wrote in the Foreword, "There has long been a widely felt need for a funeral service centering around a non-supernatural, Humanist philosophy of existence. The Humanist view... rejects the idea of personal immortality and interprets death as the final end of the individual conscious personality. The philosophy or religion of Humanism sets up the happiness and progress of mankind on this earth as the supreme goal of human endeavor." (Pg. 8)
He suggests, "A funeral service is, moreover, helpful in overcoming any sense of unreality about the death of a loved one. It brings out the finality of the parting with him, the fact that past relationships with him have been severed and that a new relationship of memory alone must be established. Rituals concerned with death are a form of art and should appeal to the aesthetic sense... they ought to be dignified, brief and reminiscent of the deep social ties in experience; they ought to avoid sentimentality... But funeral services should not try to avoid stirring up the emotions... the normal expression of grief can serve as a healthy release and purge of tension." (Pg. 8-9)
He provides meditations such as the following: "transiency and death itself are entirely natural and understandable in our universe... It is Nature's law that living organisms should eventually retire from the scene and so make way for newborn generations. In this sense life affirms itself THROUGH death... we accept as inevitable the eventual extinction of human individuals and the return of their bodies, indestructible in their ultimate elements, to the Nature that brought them forth. In death as in life we belong to Nature." (Pg. 15-16)
For a burial service, he proposes words such as, "We lay his body in that gentle earth which has been the chief support of Man since first he walked beneath the sun. To all human beings, to all living forms, the soil has ever provided the sustenance that is the staff of life. To that good earth we now give back the body of our friend..." (Pg. 21) Quotations from writers/poets such as Lucretius, Carl Sandburg, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Swinburne, Tagore, Santayana, Shelley, etc. are also recommended.
This book is a very useful one, in a field with very "limited" other resources. You might also want to explore Funerals Without God.
Displaying 1 of 1 review