Upon entering the lunch room today, I found a copy of my rather salubrious local rag, The Southern Courier. (Well actually, ‘salubrious’ is a bit of an overstatement; it is basically an excuse for real estate advertising.) On the front page I saw the little teaser for the article on page five: ‘Cemeteries fill up’. It’s not exactly a title designed to brighten up your day, but I couldn’t help reading. It ended up being, somewhat ironically, a piece about the difficulty of finding land in the south-eastern suburbs of Sydney—not for your house, but for your coffin. Apparently at the present rate of burial, cemeteries could well be full within 15 years. Mary Thorne, the President of the Cemeteries and Crematoria Association of NSW (I wonder how she introduces herself at parties?), stated, “It is a problem that has to be dealt with. It’s getting urgent.”
The Department of Crown lands, which owns the land on which the cemetery is situated, is releasing a discussion paper outlining the issues and aiming to “explore issues and promote discussion within the community on the available options”. As I read, I just couldn’t help wondering about the elephant in the room. When, I pondered, will someone release the discussion paper on the options for your eternal existence? As is the case with all things death in our society, we can talk about just about anything to do with it apart from the fact that it is going to happen to us. The cemeteries are getting full because we will die; what will happen to our precious pieces of eastern suburbs real estate then? I was reminded of the words of the writer of Ecclesiastes:
I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity. (Eccl 2:18-23)
May God give people eyes to see beyond the present difficulty so that they will contemplate the eternal reality! And may he give us the courage to keep preaching Jesus.
