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Earth Day at Rose Hill Cemetery

I was going to make this a Wordless Wednesday post, but decided some words were necessary.

I’m pretty passionate about cemetery appreciation and preservation.  This goes hand in hand with Earth Day and a passion to appreciate and preserve our planet.  Let’s think about the connection for a moment.

There is the obvious correlation of mortal remains being buried in the earth, or having one’s ashes spread all over it.  The tombstones we strive to conserve for the information they contain, as well as their artwork, also come from the earth:

- marble:  a metamorphic rock formed from limestone or dolomite

- granite:  a common, coarse-grained hard igneous rock consisting chiefly of quartz, orthoclase or microcline, and mica

- limestone:  a common sedimentary rock consisting mostly of calcium carbonate

- slate:  a fine-grained metamorphic rock that splits into thin smooth-surfaced layers

- rock:  relatively hard, naturally formed mineral or petrified matter; stone

- tombstone:  stone used to mark a grave; gravestone

See the connection? When tombstones are desecrated, not only are the vandals disrespecting the individual the stone memorializes, they are disrespecting the Earth that contains the stone.

We actually can go even further.  The designs carved onto and into tombstones are often of the earth.  Flowers are a large part of cemetery symbolism…  the chrysanthemum symbolizes longevity and immortality; the daisy often indicates the grave of a child, or innocence; and the fern symbolizes humility, frankness, and sincerity.  Just to name a few.  I could go on and on about fruits, grains, vines, trees, and bushes.

The earth is the cemetery; the cemetery is the Earth.

Here are some photos from the couple of Earth Day hours I spent at my favorite local cemetery, Rose Hill.  See how it is all intertwined?







Happy Earth Day!

Comments

Diane Wright said…
That is the best post ever!! I hadn't thought of it that way before and now I will never NOT think of it that way. Perfect!!
Diane Wright said…
The best Blog I have ever seen!! I will alwasy and forever think of cemeteries differently. You gave me new thought!
S. Lincecum said…
Thanks so much, Diane! I hope many see the connection I was trying to make.

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The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"

So I answered, "O Lord God, You know."

Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!' Thus says the Lord God to these bones: 'Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live...'" (Ezekiel 37:1-5, NKJV)