| General Fiction posted February 10, 2022 |
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Spirituality on the job
Some Find It Odd
by damommy
You may think my job is an odd one, but I can tell you it’s very rewarding. I’m a funeral director, an undertaker, a female Digger O’Dell some say.
How anyone could work this job without being spiritual? Some do, but I don’t understand how they do it.
This is the last thing I can do for the deceased and their family, helping them send their loved one to their final rest. The comfort comes from knowing they will see them again one day. I don’t believe anyone can happily work this profession without believing that.
This was the last job I would ever have thought of applying for, but one day, I saw an ad in the newspaper for an administrative assistant at the local funeral home. Needing a job, I applied for it and was accepted on the spot. Little did I know how it would play out.
It made me happy to help the family write an obituary, choose the right casket and flowers, and work with the clergy to make the service just right.
I worked to get my license, but that did not include going to mortuary school. It was just a short while before I was doing everything but embalming. I went on removals (bringing the deceased to the funeral home), dressed them, and got them casketed. The spirituality of this job is knowing there was a person in what is now a shell, but there is still a draw to the person that was. At least, there was for me.
I felt that one doesn’t know for sure what happens at the time of death, and there is some vestige of the person still residing in that body. You may think I’m crazy, but I talked to them and bid them good night at the end of the work day when I had to close the caskets for the night. When dressing them and applying makeup, I did my best to make them look like they did in life. I felt they would want to look their best even now.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, how could anyone work this job without feeling the spirit lingering for a while, without respecting what that person had been in life, and without knowing they were being sent off by a person who cared.
Of course, we had to work with atheists and people of other religions, but that didn’t stop me from feeling that connection with the deceased and with God.
From the very first, I felt God had guided me to answer that ad, with me not knowing how it would develop into so much reward for me. I don’t mean material reward, but the feeling one gets from doing a job well and helping grieving families the best one can. Knowing you have made a connection with God when caring for one of his own.
~ Jobs, People, & Spiritualism ~ writing prompt entry
You may think my job is an odd one, but I can tell you it’s very rewarding. I’m a funeral director, an undertaker, a female Digger O’Dell some say.
How anyone could work this job without being spiritual? Some do, but I don’t understand how they do it.
This is the last thing I can do for the deceased and their family, helping them send their loved one to their final rest. The comfort comes from knowing they will see them again one day. I don’t believe anyone can happily work this profession without believing that.
This was the last job I would ever have thought of applying for, but one day, I saw an ad in the newspaper for an administrative assistant at the local funeral home. Needing a job, I applied for it and was accepted on the spot. Little did I know how it would play out.
It made me happy to help the family write an obituary, choose the right casket and flowers, and work with the clergy to make the service just right.
I worked to get my license, but that did not include going to mortuary school. It was just a short while before I was doing everything but embalming. I went on removals (bringing the deceased to the funeral home), dressed them, and got them casketed. The spirituality of this job is knowing there was a person in what is now a shell, but there is still a draw to the person that was. At least, there was for me.
I felt that one doesn’t know for sure what happens at the time of death, and there is some vestige of the person still residing in that body. You may think I’m crazy, but I talked to them and bid them good night at the end of the work day when I had to close the caskets for the night. When dressing them and applying makeup, I did my best to make them look like they did in life. I felt they would want to look their best even now.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, how could anyone work this job without feeling the spirit lingering for a while, without respecting what that person had been in life, and without knowing they were being sent off by a person who cared.
Of course, we had to work with atheists and people of other religions, but that didn’t stop me from feeling that connection with the deceased and with God.
From the very first, I felt God had guided me to answer that ad, with me not knowing how it would develop into so much reward for me. I don’t mean material reward, but the feeling one gets from doing a job well and helping grieving families the best one can. Knowing you have made a connection with God when caring for one of his own.
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Writing Prompt Fiction ~ Fiction ~ Fiction Write a fictional story of 400-450 words No vulgar words, sex, animals, or profanity Must incorporate spirituality somehow involving people at a job. |
 Recognized |
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