Funeral urns, more and more families are discovering in an era in which cremation is as popular as ever, are wonderful for families who want to stage a traditional memorial service but whose loved-ones have been cremated. Funeral urns are, quite simply, standard cremation urns that are displayed, in place of a body in a casket, during a traditional funeral. It should be noted that the term “standard cremation urn” is a bit of a misnomer. The variety of urns available today mean that no urn can, truly, be called “standard.” Funeral urns come in almost as wide of a selection as there are personalities in the world, and, in this respect, they are much like their memorial cousin, the coffin. As one can see during a visit to the National Museum of Funeral History in Houston, Texas, coffins can be, and have been for years, molded into any number of shapes: cars, fish, and airplanes, anything that will fit the unique personality of the deceased. Well, the same is true of funeral urns. Except funeral urns fashioned in any number of sophisticated designs, tend to be much less expensive, and occasionally even more intricate than custom made coffins.
Funeral urns have become more and more popular in recent years as Americans, and others all across the developed world, have begun turning to cremation in record numbers. The popularity of funeral urns, however, has allowed traditional funerals to maintain their own popularity when cremation tends to be suitable for other types of ceremonies. With the, relatively minor, substitution of funeral urns for coffins, traditional funerals can proceed as they always have, complete with a “viewing” period, followed by a service conducted by a pastor and a graveside service near the area where, just as a coffin, the funeral urn is to be buried.
Because funeral urns can be decorated and molded to fit any personality, they have the great benefit of helping grieving family members remember the good memories sparked by the deceased. Because they can be fashioned into fun, happy, uplifting, optimistic shapes, funeral urns are sometimes reminiscent of the famous quote from nineteenth century English poet Robert Browning. “God’s in his Heaven – All’s right with the world,” Browning said. Fun loving funeral urns can capture the spirit of that quote and cause even the most teary-eyed of mourners to leave a funeral shouting Browning’s quote to the world. Funerals are often staged as happy “celebrations,” intended to memorialize the energetic hopefulness of the deceased. And funeral urns that, for example, are molded into a any number of fun shapes and figures, can certainly help with that.
But, that said, funeral urns, do not always focus exclusively on the “happy” side of a loved-one’s personality. Funeral urns are often built in classic, serious shapes that capture the intellectual or seriously spiritual part of a person’s personality. Religious and military funeral urns, for example, are works of art that may result in a smile on the viewer’s face, but the smile would be more from pride and honor than from humor and laughter.
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