Mortician

BFine said:

Does being a mortician cause you problems in your faith walk?

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God allowed death, and some one has to bury people. Sure I would not want the job. But there are a lot of lovely Christian funeral directors out there. I know of some in my city who give much to the poor and needy, a do a great service to God's kingdom. I think of this scripture:

Jas 2:2-5 Suppose a rich man wearing a gold ring and fine clothes comes to your meeting, and a poor man in ragged clothes also comes. If you show more respect to the well-dressed man and say to him, "Have this best seat here," but say to the poor man, "Stand over there, or sit here on the floor by my feet," then you are guilty of creating distinctions among yourselves and of making judgments based on evil motives. Listen, my dear friends! God chose the poor people of this world to be rich in faith and to possess the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.

We often judge people by their jobs, homes, looks, but God would have us recognize that all of his children no matter what their status in life have faith, and blessing from their father in heaven.

If a person was thinking of dating a Mortician, I see no reason why that would interfere in a relationship. You get good and bad people in every industry. We need to look at the persons heart not their job. And obviously ensure they are a believer.

They may bring home some emotional baggage, as would a soldier (who sees death), but a partner who understands this can be a support to their partner.

When asked how business is , I typically tell them 'pretty dead around here'.

I thought a mortician was an undertaker or funeral director.

There is a book I read about it called Six Feet Down Under. About a guy who had that job. It was his memoirs, its quite interesting. I think his name was Chris Mann. Its a nz book so dont know if you can find it.

Yes he does. He also gets jokes about his job.
It is a demanding job because death doesn't fit into a 9 to 5 routine.

Not everyone gets embalmed, its actually not always necessary. Sometimes its enough that the body of the deceased is dressed (he had to get the correct clothing) and tidied up, the eyes closed, etc. Sometimes there are closed casket funerals.

Well before the injury I was starting to study to be a doctor, possibly pediatrician or some specialty. After the injury I though about maybe being a mortician. The guy at the funeral home said its a dying (no pun intended) job. None of his kids or grandkids want to take over when hes gone and he can't find anyone else willing to. He even said if I became one I could do it. Though obviously thats more of a funeral director thing, buy they sometimes do embalming and things like that. As for a mortician whos only job it is to do bodies, I thought about that to. I even considered CSI (this is WAY before anyone knew what it was thanks to TV). At one point I even thought about being that person that comes to a crime scene after the fact to "clean up". I've always found the body fascinating in life and death. Not in some creepy way of course. God created us and we are so complex. It boggles my mind.

I have seen enough videos online of things no one probably should ever see (but in my rebellious days). Though I have seen some stuff from ISIS recently. Ugh. Obviously seeing death in person, the smells, the sights...etc is far different from even a real video or some youtube "autopsy video". Being in and out of hospitals my whole life I've seen many things though. Death included in many ways. And have smelled it a few times. Trust me... even with my strong stomach, the sights are more tolerable for me then the smell. When my aunt was murdered by her husband (beyond VERY violently) I can't forget the smell when we went to the house. The SWAT team was there so we couldn't get in. But we were outside the window (we didn't know at the time) where her body was, or what was left. You could smell it. Cops would go in, then they would come out and throw up in the bushes.

I know most people when I tell them about all of what I said they usually freak out. I tell them some are just built different. I'd still have a hard time with anything related to underage people. From the people I talked to (cops, morticians, doctors...etc) they all say kids are the hardest thing to deal with of course. You can't forget and it can cause burn out at your job. Our friend who was an ER doctor worked at the burn unit for kids for 6 months and changed because he said it was doing to much to him emotionally and mentally.

I'm sure if I had go down any of the paths, as strong as I think I am I know eventually it would deal damage to me I imagine. Soldiers, cops, doctors, morticians.... they all talk about that. I never considered surgery because my hands were to shaky. But I've watched endless amounts of people undergoing surgeries. Never bothered me. My dad and I watched his surgery video when the put in his steel hip. It was fascinating. My mom couldn't even look. So I guess surgery and autopsy are to some degree the same in terms of opening up the body to do things. In one case its on a living person to fix something. For the passed away its find a causes of death and so on. This is probably why I never feel scared or sick at a hospital, hospis, funeral home...ect. IF anything I feel interest. Though obviously I feel the sadness of course. I've always been empathetic. So to that degree I can be overwhelmed by what others are feeling. I can go to a funeral and not know the person, but before I go inside its like... I can "feel" something in the air. Like emotions. Its so weird. I can tell whos more upset then others and even cry about it.

Hmm... thinking about it maybe thats why I wanted to do what I wanted before. Solving someones death, taking care of the body...etc and bringing closure to people would be so great to do. Bringing the peace to them because I can feel their pain through empathy. Ok, sorry for the long post BFine!

BFine said:

Would like to hear about the responses or reaction you got when family and friends learned what you/and or your love interest does for a living?

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I suppose its not all that bad of a profession. Every mortician that I've encountered over the years has been---happily married. If he owns the funeral parlor, be prepared to become his right-hand secretary. Always seemed to be the case, at least in the smaller operations. And by the way, every one of their wives was as lovely and kind as the funeral directors themselves, too!

I've had to take part in post mortem care in the hospital. It's what nurses (and nursing students- in my case) have to do sometimes. I've never seen a doctor do that.