All Soul's Day 2009

2nd of Nov is designated as All Soul's Day.

In the catholic community in Sg, this is a day where all gather in church to pray for those who have passed on. Somewhat like the hungry ghost festival in the chinese community, just that its condensed into 1 day instead of 1 month. And more environmentally friendly too! No need to burn paper in the air.

My first personal experience with death was when grandpa had an heart attack at home. And I was there. Young and ignorant me have no idea that he had an attack. His sudden passing brought great shock and sorrow to all of us at home. It was my the first time I witness a chinese funeral with all its works! Taoist monk chanting a few times a day. Some times requiring all family to sit on the mat. Some times the monk and his group will chant seated on tables. Not around, but ON the tables. The most memorable part of the funeral was the effort to bring my grandpa's soul through hell and into heaven. Got crossing of a bridge, hecking through hell, the taoist monk's real kungfu was displayed in a 2hr ceremony. We had to hang around grown ups to understand what the taoist monk was doing. It was a real eye-opener.

There were parts of the funeral procession that really evoked deep grief from us. Grandpa had an open casket in the most traditional chinese form. Like what you would see in the chinese "jiang shi" (chinese vampire) movies where its solid wood, lid is a one piece heavy wood that requires nails instead of a simple lock. It was so heavy that it required more than 8 men to carry it. When the monk was nailing to seal the coffin, every knock on the giant metal nails wedged a hole in my heart.

PONG PONG PONG
felt like someone is actually hitting my heart too. Grieve was created physically.

When my dad passed away suddenly of heart attack 3 yrs ago. Grieve wasn't physical but internal. It felt like a heavy weight in my heart for a long long time. There were days that I wondered what it'll be like if he was still around. There were times when I wished that he was still around.

Yes, daddy you've been missed dearly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCzQ4ZSy7Og

But what can we do about those who are deceased?

We can pray for their soul to be in place of peace on this All Soul's Day.