THE CELEBRATION OF DEATH

Death is something that is decreed by the Lord unto us.  Everybody is going to die if you like or not. Death is one of the most painful things that separate people from their love ones. But the good aspect of this death is that, it doesn’t discriminate between people despite your riches, poverty, status, wisdom, fame, age or situation, It will take you away when that specified time is due. However, its tragedies is that, it comes to you without an invitation. Then a question arise as what should we then do when death take one of us, should we jubilate? Should we mourn? Should we not eat food? All these are good questions to ask when death takes someone among us. As for jubilating over the death, one may see it weird and strange but that is not to say we should mourn throughout our lifetime without jubilation because of death. Mourning which seems the normally thing we all do when death took one of us, we cry, we feel sad, we feel bored and even sometimes we fall sick, but the question is, are we going to get this person back? This is absolutely No, because no matter how many times we mourn or cry but that person is never going to come back. What if we stop eating, should that be of importance If we stop eating because one of us is dead? This is also not an option to us because we will also end up dying. So in short, we will realize none of the above is an option to us when someone among us is dead.

However, I choose to write on this topic, because the the problem of high cost of funeral rites in Africans for that matter Ghanaians is amazing. The fact that we shouldn’t stop eating nor mourn for the rest of our lives doesn’t mean we shouldn’t feel sad for losing our loved one but mostly the problem of high cost of funerals happens in the southern part of Ghana, where death is now seen as a form of entertainment and making money. When someone is dead, others see it as a platform to go and entertain themselves. Hmm! However, the saddest part of it is that, they even see it as a source of making money it is pity, yes I earlier on said, the death of someone should not prevent us from eating or mourn for the rest of our lives, but at least it should not also be our source of entertainment or place of making money. We should rather feel sad, unhappy, or bored for us losing somebody who was part of us. In fact, the way we now celebrate the death seems we don’t even value the living.

The other aspect of death that seems to amaze me is that of the cost involved. Nowadays we invite people to our funerals not to come and show respect to the dead but rather to come show money or to come see how we are going to waste money or resources. I always ask myself what is the essence of spending too much money on funeral, cooking different dishes, buying expensive coffins or gaskets, hiring sound systems and mourners, does it actually worth?. If we should do a critically analysis to some of these funerals, we will find out that the person that actually died was in need of the resources that people are wasting on his or her funeral. Yes, I know others may argue that, what is wrong if you have the money and you want to spend it on your loved one funeral, it is true there is nothing wrong with that, but on the contrary, everything is wrong with it when the person in question here was not living the luxury as compared to his or her funeral. I do not always talk much on issues involving God because my knowledge is limited, but the little I read and heard from religious scriptures and religious preachers tells me that God does not judge us based on our wealth or status but rather our pure heart. Then why should we spend so much money in buying a coffin or gasket to burry a dead person which might probably have no importance for him or her. Let’s put it the back of our minds that the precious coffins or gaskets we burry into the soil has no developmental benefit to us, lets change our attitudes towards our dead people, even though we should not also kill ourselves because someone’s death, so shall we not also celebrate the death of somebody. I am a social activist and I write on issues that are of social importance, to solve certain societal problems and this topic is one of the social problems that need to be addressed……..

Suntaa Abudu Ibrahim

Social Commentator.......