Rethinking Solemnity

Today we had a funeral and at the cemetery I was struck by the attitude of the grave diggers, how they ignored the solemnity we had brought to the occasion.  Of course, they had no personal investment.  Their feelings were not tied to the event.  Though respectful, they could, it seemed, include death as part of a joke.  Maybe they were right.  Maybe death is not so serious.  Maybe we, with solemn prayer and faces, were the ones who had not understood.