And Now For Something Completely Different…

I went to a funeral today. It was for the mom of a co-worker and friend of mine.

She died on Wednesday after a long illness.  The funeral arrangements were announced verbally at work on Thursday, but that was my day off. An email announcement about the viewing and the funeral came out on Friday after I (and many others) went home for the day. I didn’t know how many others from work would go (and take off a bit early from work), but I knew that it was important that I show up.  I had one co-worker show up at my mom’s funeral two years ago, and it really meant a lot to me.

So I showed up in my suit — minus a jacket (which I kept in the car) and a tie (which I put on before I left for the day). We have a casual dress policy at work, which comes in handy if you’re trying to raise the blood pressure of management by coming in looking sharp — and keeping them guessing if it’s for a job interview at lunch or not.  I did notice, however, that I was the only one dressed up on this 95 degree day.

I asked my co-workers if they were planning on going. Most of them thought about it, but realized that with so many people wanting to go it would leave the office rather thin of employees. So they decided to stay back and let everyone else go.

I turned out to be the only one there from work.

And it was a bit different for me — I had never been to a funeral outside of the Jewish tradition, much less a funeral for a pillar in the local Pakistani Christian community. Actually, it was very similar to a Jewish funeral where there is some singing in Hebrew and speaking in Hebrew and English.  Here it was similar — the opening and closing hymns were Urdu, and the speaking was in English. The main difference, however, was the musical accompaniment. The amazing percussion and melodies were just — well, beautiful. Uplifting, even. As the congregation sang Geet 53 with accompaniment, I was able to pick up the tune rather quickly.  Same thing with the closing Hymn, Zaboor 16.  I quietly asked the person sitting next to me about it and, sure enough, it was Psalm 16! The tune, however, was simply wonderful.

Which gave me an idea: I’ve started to listen to Zaboor 16 online (and will continue to do so with some help from my co-worker).  I want to adapt the tune to the Hebrew version of the same Psalm.  There simply aren’t enough Hebrew-Pakistani musical crossovers around, and I think there’s room to rectify this.

There are many differences between a Jewish funeral and a Christian one — including but not exclusive to — the type of casket (Jewish funerals use an ordinary pine box), the position of the lid (closed in Jewish funerals), and decorative flowers (none in Jewish funerals).  I felt the focus was different as well: here there was a focus on the earth body as a temporary vessel and the spirit being transported to Heaven  where we’ll reunite with her again. The Jewish funeral experiences I’ve had focus on the here-and- now and the memories that live on.  There isn’t a mention of an afterlife.

And you know what? Perhaps it’s comfort zone, ut I’m okay with it.