THE DEAD IS GONE...

Today is Tuesday.
Permit me to go a bit emotional this morning as I share with all of my lovely STEEMIANS something pathetic which l believe to some extent Africans or Ghanaians should have more rational creatures..
I am thinking we should begin to make use of the most holistic way of sending the dead off other than what is seen usual.

EXPENSIVE FUNERAL

To what end does it mean to celebrate and spend so much money on funerals which Ghanaians are good at?
The emotional me says it's worth it, while the rational me says it's often a waste of money and resources.
And why do l say so?
I have grown to become a very big fan of the Islamic society here in Ghana especially with their funerals.
Not long ago, a story was made of a group of guys who went to dig out a casket worth millions of Ghana Cedis. The dead was given a very extravagant burial by the family. Days after the burial, robbers went to dig out and made away with the casket, leaving the corpse lying around. (it was a trending story in the ghana newspapers).
A lot of Ghanaians made an argument in favour of the thieves.Others argued that it was unfair to humanity for anyone to bury over Ghc million in a country full of hunger and jobless people.
A friend who had just finished National Service after University at the time, and was unemployed. He argued that such an amount will do a lot for the poor and the living people like him. He concluded that he doesn't blame the robbers.
Although I'm against the act of exhuming a corpse to steal from it; I don't see much sense in buring millions which nothing seems to be changing lately.

I remember when my mum died,the church she attends wanted to bury her the following week.... a small christian burial, but the so called elders and family heads of my village kicked against the decision. They said they won't allow the church bury their wife/daughter/sister "like a chicken". They insisted that my mums burial must be a very big party. The church was forced to oblige, and they made the burial a "community party", because the church just wasn't in the mood to start a war with the kinsmen during such a mourning period.

I have grown to form a strong opinion about posthumous love. I believe it's just symbolic. A person only feels your love when they are alive and kicking. I don't think the dead knows love...Some funerals are Africa here are more than a wedding ceremony..but so sad to find out that the dead had nothing when alive.
It doesnt make sense; especially to a poor family..Why would someone spend a huge money on a funeral party, first of all inviting people who the deceased never knew in the first place?
If we dont believe in cremation,wont a very simple burial service be ok?And funerals here take whole day for celebration.
I am not highly religious but I do appreciate the simplicity of a Muslim burial where you are washed and cleaned and wrapped in unbleached cotton and buried. It makes sense not only for economical reasons but also for spiritual reasons. After all we all came in the same way.. shouldn't we exit the same way too? I dont see any place for snobbery in death.
Hence, I try to love my loved ones as much as I can while they are alive.Lets build for our parents castles in the air and empty our accounts for them while they are alive.

If I have got so much money, I would rather build a legacy in their names for the living to enjoy.
Something like @mcsamm tuition free school for the less privileged, @mcsamm scholarship for the gifted children, or @mcsamm hospital for diabetics.
What do you think about extravagant expenses for funerals happening here in Ghana and in Africa?
Lets have the discussion on family.