For as much as it has pleased our Heavenly Father in His wise providence to take unto Himself our beloved dead, we therefore commit his or her body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God in our Saviour Jesus Christ who shall change the body of our humiliation and fashion it anew in the likeness of His own body of glory according to the working of His mighty power wherewith He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself.
Yes, I know, there are a few different versions of committals at the gravesite. You may be wondering why I am quoting this at this juncture of my life. Let me not keep you in the dark for long. It is the innumerable phone calls that I receive, when the speaker uses ingenious methods to persuade and convince me that it is time to start thinking about death and be prepared for death by obtaining a funeral insurance with the company or organisation represented by the speaker. The calls usually made me feel depressed as it forced me to think about that important event in my life, which I had unconsciously pushed to the back of my mind, as thinking about it meant that my time on earth is over. However, it is also a significant event that would put an end to all my miseries on earth.
Staying alive means having to fulfil responsibilities and pay for all the expenses incurred while living. Since when did dying become an expensive affair, I thought to myself. How much does it cost for a funeral these days? I embarked on a research and my findings increased my desire to live and crusade against all kinds of negative forces. A simple funeral ceremony costs approximately $6,000 in Sydney with minimum attendance. As per Funeral Prices Sydney (http://www.funeraldirectorsaustralia.com.au/funeral-prices/sydney/), the starting price for a ‘no-service-no-attendance’ cremation is approximately $3000 in Sydney. An average funeral ceremony cannot proceed without the funeral director’s services, cost for a casket, embalming, cost for the actual funeral service, cost of a grave site, cost to dig the grave, cost of a grave liner, cost of a head stone, placing the obituary in the newspapers, buying flowers etc. and the cost of each is definitely more than $500 each. It is not necessary for me to point out that the cost varies depending on the popularity of the service providers.
In their moment of grief, the family members have to make monetary arrangements within a short time, which accounts for the growing popularity of funeral insurance companies. Being a self-sufficient woman, I did not want my only son to run helter skelter not knowing what to do when the thread of my life is cut. So, eventually, I went for a funeral insurance policy with a benefit amount of $15,000, the premium payments for which are due only after twelve months as the first year is free. The name of the company did intrigue me as it is called FREEDOM INSURANCE. Freedom from the yoke of life? Freedom from worrying about the inevitable expenditure? Or free to depart now that everything is taken care of? Or freedom (of my family members) from me?
A Writer's Exposé 