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In 2005 when we buried my mother in the family plot in a small Kansas town that all but straddles the Kansas/Oklahoma border, I told myself I would never forget "where the head is, and where the body is." Strange thing, I know. But the reason was the whispering of a superstition to not walk on graves. Not the "bad luck" part of the caution but pertaining to respect for the dead.
Our family frequently made treks to the cemetery to lay flowers on the graves of ancestors on Memorial Day, and as a child (and even as an adult) I wanted to respect not walking on graves, but I could never remember the position of the body. When the graves are all closed, it is hard to tell. Well, the head is where the headstone is (ha, ha) and the body lays whatever direction that follows the head. Every single grave in that cemetery was laid west to east.
Which got me wondering why. At the time I looked it up and discovered it was directly related to this Scripture. Matt 24:27 "For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." It is the expectation of the resurrection.
I don't know why that was on my mind this morning but not wanting to trust information I acquired twenty-one years ago, I did a deeper dive into the matter, even going so far as to inquire about that particular cemetery.
The cemetery came into existence in the 19th century, was later moved from its original location a short distance away, and by 2000 had acquired more open land connected to it in order to expand its borders of necessity. (That land used to be a part of my gr grandfather's ranch.) But every plot remains a west to east orientation.
The theological implications are astounding and beautiful. The community itself was conservative (still is). Strongly Protestant (Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian). The layout symbolized:
Even if the custom has given way in many places to park-like settings that conform to the lay of the land and ascetics and people are unaware of the custom and the certain hope behind it, the west to east geography is not lost.
That little cemetery, and countless other like it, is a silent confession of faith.
And there too, I will one day be laid.
Our family frequently made treks to the cemetery to lay flowers on the graves of ancestors on Memorial Day, and as a child (and even as an adult) I wanted to respect not walking on graves, but I could never remember the position of the body. When the graves are all closed, it is hard to tell. Well, the head is where the headstone is (ha, ha) and the body lays whatever direction that follows the head. Every single grave in that cemetery was laid west to east.
Which got me wondering why. At the time I looked it up and discovered it was directly related to this Scripture. Matt 24:27 "For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." It is the expectation of the resurrection.
I don't know why that was on my mind this morning but not wanting to trust information I acquired twenty-one years ago, I did a deeper dive into the matter, even going so far as to inquire about that particular cemetery.
The cemetery came into existence in the 19th century, was later moved from its original location a short distance away, and by 2000 had acquired more open land connected to it in order to expand its borders of necessity. (That land used to be a part of my gr grandfather's ranch.) But every plot remains a west to east orientation.
The theological implications are astounding and beautiful. The community itself was conservative (still is). Strongly Protestant (Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian). The layout symbolized:
- Death is temporary
- The body matters
- History is going somewhere
- Resurrection is expected, not imagined
Even if the custom has given way in many places to park-like settings that conform to the lay of the land and ascetics and people are unaware of the custom and the certain hope behind it, the west to east geography is not lost.
That little cemetery, and countless other like it, is a silent confession of faith.
And there too, I will one day be laid.
