Homes in America used to have a parlor where a loved one would lie in state so that neighbors could visit and pay their respects. What if we knew the end-of-life choices of our loved ones, so when one of our own passes, everybody knows just what to do? What if death no longer was seen as a burden put onto the shoulders of others, but was honored at home, the community involved?

Imagine dying treated in a sacred way, in a room in the home made beautiful. Imagine family and friends visiting, sitting by their dear one in silence or conversation and prayer. Imagine the community gathering at the local cemetery for whatever service the deceased had chosen - the community offering prayers, poems, songs in a circle of love, wishing solely to honor such a passage to the next mansion of life.

Or, imagine the community gathering to see the body of the beloved, wrapped in a chosen shroud, as it is placed on a pyre and covered with boughs, and with candles and items from the life of the deceased with sweets and wishes spoken or silent, a family member lighting the pyre as flames reach skyward to return the covering of the spirit to the realm of spirit, as all things return to their essence, just as rain nourishes the earth and then rises in evaporation.

If you were that someone, how would you wish your passing to touch those whom in your physical life you cared for so deeply?