The Decoration

John 11:25-26

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

In the mountains of North Carolina, there is a tradition that is carried on among many of the small mountain churches. It is often referred to as “The Decoration”. The Decoration is a weekend that is set aside to decorate the cemetery. Now before you scrunch up your nose or think how morbid, let me describe it. It is much like a community family reunion. You collect flowers from your yard, the creek sides, the meadows, beside the road, anywhere you can find them, and yes, some people buy them. Then you get together with your extended family and you make flower arrangements and bouquets to place on the graves of loved ones who have passed. It is a happy occasion, greeting old friends and extended family that you haven’t seen in a while. At least one meal is usually shared or picnic is planned. It’s one of those times when you can say, “fun was had by all.”

Please don’t think that this is a form of worship over the dead. It is simply just a day of remembrance. A time of getting back to your roots and reconnecting with family. I have only missed a few in the last 35 years but it has been going on as far back as I can remember. This year was no exception. It rained most of the day but my cousin’s husband set up a tent and flowers started flying. We ended up with about 15 arrangements. We made it fun by giving each arrangement a name, such as Ella’s Enchantment, in honor of my mama, Zinnia Party, and Mountain Merlot, just to name a few. After all were completed, we took them to the cemetary.

As we were heading back down the mountain, I tried to recall all the times that we had done this and I couldn’t help but think how God has allowed all of this to fall into place…Every. Single. Year. We always have plenty of hands, we never run short of flowers, and we always have a good time. The resting places of our beloved family members and ancestors are the tie that binds us together, just as Jesus’ death is the tie that binds us together as believers. We often think of death as a separation of our loved ones from us, yet Jesus’s death was used to bring us all together in Heaven and on earth. We have the opportunity to gather together on earth with His church and one day we will gather together in Heaven when our time on earth ends.

Romans 14:7-9

For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

FYI: Below are few pics of the most recent “Decoration” at Piney Creek United Methodist Church, just to give you an idea. It truly is a beautiful thing and no picture can ever do it justice. The picture of the garden at the front of the church is a prayer garden or Columbarium. It was designed by my cousin Holly Christian and has an area for urns to be placed after cremation.

This is my cousin’s daughter, Phoebe, standing next to her namesake’s headstone. Phebe was my grandmother’s aunt and raised my grandmother after her parents died from tuberculosis.