The notions that come to mind when we think of a funeral are often an emotional parallel to those felt by anyone else. The loss of another human being is a similar sentiment for anyone of any religion. It is a deeply ingrained feeling. Perhaps that is why we go to great lengths to provide elaborate and elegant funeral ceremonies for the dead, often to the tune of thousands of dollars. Well, the Amish don’t think that way. Neither in life nor in death do they relate materialism to human or individual worth. The more expensive the flowers or the elegant the funeral parlor does not mean to them what it means to us. I think the simplistic Amish burial traditions are just as emotionally heartfelt as the elaborate ceremonies of some outsiders.
It may seem very strange, but this is how the Amish gave rest to their dead: the ceremony is grim and simple. They have no eulogy. They do not decorate the coffin with pictures or flowers. They use only simple wooden boxes. The coffins used by the Amish are practically always built within the community. According to Amish customs, an embalming process is sometimes allowed, but without makeup.
The funeral of an Amish individual will generally take place three days after their death. The funeral takes place at the home of the deceased. The graves of the Amish are dug with the bare hands of their mourners. The body is buried in a local cemetery and marked only by a small headstone. No names or other markers are made to identify the dead below. In Amish communities, local ministers keep a map of the cemetery to keep track of who is buried in which burial plot.
It’s just a different culture, unlike the Amish, most Americans celebrate funerals the way they do, they feel that giving more shows the amount of love they had for the deceased. Ordinary Americans want to give all they can to their deceased loved ones, giving them things like ornate coffins, statuesque tombstones, and hundreds of flowers. There is no shame in wanting to mark the meaning of a great loss – to create a funeral, people will not soon forget.
However, this also does not mean that there is something wrong with a simplistic ritual, at least not in a culture where emotion, or anything else of importance, is not related to material things. There is no right or wrong way to bury the dead. It is simply a matter of established principles within that culture. The Amish do not decorate themselves in their lives, nor do they decorate their dead to announce the mourning of their passing.