Cemetery Care: A Process Practice
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A cemetery is, or can be, a community that includes both the living and the dead, the deceased and their loved ones. The act of cleaning it up, as occurred today (3-9-2024) at the Oak Grove Cemetery in Conway, Arkansas, is also a community endeavor. They - we - raked leaves, picked up trash around graves, and got to know one another in the process.
The members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority of the University of Central Arkansas, who assisted in the cleanup, had no "loved ones" buried there, but they understood the significance to others, and that mattered to them. Cemetery cleanup exemplifies process-relational philosophy in action.
Process-relational philosophy isn't merely a speculative cosmology about the nature of the universe; it's a way of life that emphasizes honoring, caring for, and enhancing local communities that include the living and the dead. And the act of cleaning it up is an act of reverence, to be sure, but also an act of enjoyment. The enjoyment derived from communal activities also embodies process-relational philosophy. Whitehead proposes that every occasion of experience aims at enjoyment. The sheer fun of engaging in activities together constitutes a form of enjoyment. Truth be told, we had fun today.
But not fun alone. The experience of cleaning up a cemetery was also tremendously meaningful. We walked by graves where people had put flowers months ago, maybe even years ago, but were forgotten, because their loved ones had also passed away. We walked by graves where the tombstones had been broken and left unrepaired. We did our best to remember the people whose graves were forgotten. Community includes the forgotten as well as the remembered. All are important. All are community.
And where is God in all of this? In process-relational theology God is the deep memory of the universe. God is the One in whose life all lives are remembered and loved with a tender care that nothing be lost. A cemetery is, or can be, a place of such tender care, and thus a window into God's own life. Cleaning it up is also an act of tender care. The cleaning is a physical activity, rake in hands. The raking clears the grave, to make space for community, where nothing is lost.
- Jay McDaniel
The members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority of the University of Central Arkansas, who assisted in the cleanup, had no "loved ones" buried there, but they understood the significance to others, and that mattered to them. Cemetery cleanup exemplifies process-relational philosophy in action.
Process-relational philosophy isn't merely a speculative cosmology about the nature of the universe; it's a way of life that emphasizes honoring, caring for, and enhancing local communities that include the living and the dead. And the act of cleaning it up is an act of reverence, to be sure, but also an act of enjoyment. The enjoyment derived from communal activities also embodies process-relational philosophy. Whitehead proposes that every occasion of experience aims at enjoyment. The sheer fun of engaging in activities together constitutes a form of enjoyment. Truth be told, we had fun today.
But not fun alone. The experience of cleaning up a cemetery was also tremendously meaningful. We walked by graves where people had put flowers months ago, maybe even years ago, but were forgotten, because their loved ones had also passed away. We walked by graves where the tombstones had been broken and left unrepaired. We did our best to remember the people whose graves were forgotten. Community includes the forgotten as well as the remembered. All are important. All are community.
And where is God in all of this? In process-relational theology God is the deep memory of the universe. God is the One in whose life all lives are remembered and loved with a tender care that nothing be lost. A cemetery is, or can be, a place of such tender care, and thus a window into God's own life. Cleaning it up is also an act of tender care. The cleaning is a physical activity, rake in hands. The raking clears the grave, to make space for community, where nothing is lost.
- Jay McDaniel