A Look at funerals..... Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven; a time to be born, and a time to die." In the hospice industry, obviously, I deal with a lot of death and funerals. I have had several people ask "What good is a funeral?" or "What is the purpose of a funeral?" I considered these questions and this is how I would answer. Besides the potential for spreading potentially contagious diseases, we dispose of bodies via burial or cremation as an act of closure. But the funeral, known as a post-death ritual and ceremony, provides much more for the living. The funeral itself is a form of therapy. There is the therapy of language.- There are no silent funerals. Much of the language used in a funeral is repetitious. The bereaved vent their feelings through wailing, crying and sorrowful talk and find relief in the outlet. There is the therapy of sharing.