Every society, including ours, depends on the service of these special men. Yet, few of us ever think to stop and talk with them. Quite often we do not even get to know their names. However, at the end of the death trail they are there. These men are masters of the last rites.

Actually, as I write, there is an Asian Funeral Expo in process (May 13 - 15) in Hong Kong. Some 150 different companies from around the world are participating in the exhibition. One caption describing the exhibition is, "Weird and wonderful things that people do to their dead." So, at the end of the death trail, after the doctors, the undertaker, the mortician, and the preacher have all passed the dead body on, it goes to the cemetery for the final rituals of death, if burial is preferred. There, the masters of the last rites take over.

Usually they work quietly. They are solemn and very precise about what they do and how it is done. However as is being depicted at that expo in Asia, dealing with dead bodies is a very culture-focused activity, a function of the shared history and experiences of a society. And, in some places, those activities may even be seen as, "weird and wonderful things different people in different cultures do to their dead."

Although some of the ritual patterning in a specific society may change over time, the final rites and rituals performed at the grave have often been passed on from one generation to the next, and in the process depict the passing of a baton of rituals and rites, from one generation to another. However, it cannot be said there is no change over time in the presentation of last rites.

At one time, only the elites of society were buried in tombs. For the poor and the powerless, burial was usually in the ground and unmarked. Today, the divide of burial options by class and ethnicity, is not as rigid. The elites as well as the lower classes can choose to be buried in the ground or in tombs. Through the years, because of the superstition associated with the dead, the men who perform such final rites are a select group. It is not a job that people rush to accept.

There must also be special commitment to the role. In the Virgin Islands, and based on observation of other Caribbean islands, persons who become cemetery workers and are associated with performing the last rites for dead bodies are often not elites, they live simple lives, are committed to what they do, and they do it very well. Over time, as a result of experience, and as a result of learning from co-workers, separated by age and long experience with last rites, each generation of cemetery workers becomes adept at the art and in time join the rank as masters of the last rites. Whether they are working with concrete tombs or graves created after the removal of earth, in both cases the men who carry out the last rites and the rituals of burial have become very skilful at doing so. Very often their routines and skills are so well rehearsed that they perform them effortlessly. Frequently, those who visit the cemetery to witness final rites do not even notice or appreciate all that it takes to carry out the interment process.

There are numerous reasons why bereaved families and friends do not notice or appreciate what it takes to ensure the dead is laid to rest. Some may be overwhelmed by grief, others may be caught up with the occasion, and some may simply refuse to see; since they take the last rites as given and unimportant event. However, since as the Existentialists suggest, "Because we live we die." Each human being everywhere, the elite as well as the poor, must one day face his/her mortality and come face to face with death. It may be a morbid idea, but observing the men in the cemetery at work. The experience can give some sense of what your turn or my turn will be like. For me, it will have to be a cemetery. I hate the idea of cremation and being burnt, even after death. Waiting in a concrete slab is not attractive to me either. My wish is to be laid to rest in the earth until that great getting-up morning. Since I will not be in a position to observe the process, I hope that the men at the cemetery who carry out the process of putting me to my final rest will be skilful at the art, and real masters of the last rites. Next time you visit the cemetery, watch the process. Make a wish about the time. It is very certain that one day in the future you too, will be left to the men who have mastered the rituals of the last rites!