SojoMail - The politics of grief on Día de Muertos

Día de Muertos Reminds Christians To Grieve Sandy Ovalle Martínez writes in this week’s SojoMail that she is not interested in a commercialized version of Día de Muertos. Instead, she wants to practice grief as a way of pursuing justice: I am interested in the family remembrance rituals, in the nights at the cemetery communing with loved ones, in the ofrendas set up in homes, schools, and public plazas. Traditionally, Día de Muertos means walking through the streets smelling the fragrant scent of calabaza en tacha, the freshness of mandarins, the herbaceous and bitter scent of cempaxóchitl flowers — the scent of death. It’s tasting the once-a-year delicacy of pan de muerto, finding the names of deceased loved ones in calaveritas de azúcar and chocolate. I often dig out a sepia-toned copy of my abuelitos’ wedding picture and search for a picture where my great-grandma’s long, white, braided hair shows below her veil. I update my list of remembrance with the names of loved ones who passed this year, spending a few minutes savoring their memory, searching for a good picture that would do justice to their character and self-presentation on the ofrenda, and thinking of a few items they would enjoy having on their remembrance altar. Western Protestant Christianity mourns fast. It dislikes grief. Verses that say not to “grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13) are often interpreted as guideposts to limit the length and depth of grief. We forget there are also verses like Psalm 34:18, where God “is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” The requirement here is that we are broken-hearted and crushed in spirit, that is, we carry the spirit of death. READ THE FULL ARTICLE Forward Share

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