Sunday 5 September 2010

The Sunday Story: All Funerals are Equal, But Some are More Equal...

Funerals can be either public or private matters. For the good and the great, they are usually public. For the rest of us, they are usually quietly private.

Back in September 1997 there were two rather exceptional funerals; one of which somewhat overshadowed the other.

Mother Teresa died exactly 13 years ago today. But she was unfortunate enough to die less than a week after a well known ex-member of the British royal family. And her funeral, which should have been an occasion for world-wide grief and mourning, was reduced to second billing.

I watched part of Mother Teresa's funeral service on TV, and was astounded to see the front seats all occupied by high-ranking military personel. Her fellow nuns all being confined to the hoi-polloi seats further back. Even as she was carried through the streets of Calcutta, guns and uniforms were never far from the scene; something I'm sure she would have abhored.

I really feel that Mother Teresa was deprived of her well-deserved, world-wide TV broadcast send-off. A remarkable woman who sacrificed her entire life for the benefit of others.

Diana Spencer certainly had admirers, but her life was of little consequence in comparison with that of Mother Teresa. Becoming a celebrity through marriage, is hardly comparible to becoming an unwilling celebrity through a whole life-time of hard work, struggle, and sacrifice. However, the fickle, gullible, and sentimental media saw things differently. Too late now!

6 comments:

  1. Well I have a theory about that. I think Mother Theresa would have abhored anything but a quiet small funeral, no matter how much she did ...that was her nature. Diana, I think had a very caring heart and tried to do good but everything she did was of course tied up with media (never a good thing). Who better now to menter Diana than Mother Therea. Its ok cro you don't have to like it!

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  2. If such things were/are possible, I think MT would be giving DS a good talking to!

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  3. I agree with Linda.I think the nice thing was Mother Teresa liked Diana in an interview I saw and Diana had a truley great respect for mother Teresa,and aspired to be a tiny little bit like her.I think MT would have liked just her fellow Nuns with her for her parting so anything other than small and intimate would not have meant a thing to her.
    MT was truly remarkable and there will never be another of her and in a strange way the same with Diana,but not being English I know I have a different view on that,I don't think we got to see the real Diana very often the media have a lot to answer for. Carole

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  4. I knew I'd get some flack over this. I'm not trying to denegrate Diana. All I'm saying is that she was only who she was because of who she married. MT did everything through compulsion.

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  5. Guess what Cro no flack you are absolutely right ..just other thoughts,thats all..i like the way you make us think. Carole

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  6. I don't believe funerals say anything about the person who died but everything about how they were perceived by others. Sometimes that can be very far from the truth.

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