What is funeral readings?
Funeral readings for funeral order of service, whether religious or non-religious, are significant because they serve multiple purposes including providing comfort, reflecting on the deceased’s life and character, and assisting mourners in processing their grief during a funeral or memorial service. Funeral readings can be a passage, poem, or excerpt that is read during a funeral or memorial ceremony.
Types of funeral readings
1. Religious funeral readings
These are drawn from sacred texts and reflect the religious beliefs of the deceased and their family. It included passages from the Bible or other religious scriptures.
For Christians, Bible passages are often a significant element of funeral services. While traditional Christian funerals have always incorporated prayers and scriptures, many non-religious venues also include Bible verses or prayers in their ceremonies. These funeral readings provide structure and significance to the service, offering comfort and support to the grieving family and friends.
Most popular religious bible funeral readings
JOHN 14:1-3
Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
ROMANS 8:35, 37–39
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 THESSALONIANS 4:14-17
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Ecclesiastes 3:19
Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless.
Song of Solomon 2: 8-14
Hark! my lover—here he comes springing across the
mountains, leaping across the hills.
My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Here he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattices.
My lover speaks; he says to me,
“Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one, and come!
“O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the secret
recesses of the cliff,
Let me see you, let me hear your voice,
For your voice is sweet, and you are lovely.
My lover belongs to me and I to him.
He says to me:
“Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm;
For stern as death is love, relentless as the nether-world is
devotion; its flames are a blazing fire. Deep waters cannot
quench love, nor floods sweep it away.”
The Word of the Lord.
Matthew 11:28-30
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”
Philippians 1:21-23
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better.”
Isaiah 57:1-2
“The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.”
2. Non-Religious funeral readings
It can be very difficult to say goodbye to a loved one. Many individuals search online or in books for the ideal non-religious funeral readings, as the Humanist funerals become more and more popular. When planning a funeral for someone who does not hold religious beliefs, including a well-known funeral poem or reading in the service can be meaningful. Non-religious funeral readings and poems can honour the deceased’s memory while also providing comfort to those in attendance.
Here are some popular non religious funeral poems and readings suitable for funerals:
“Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep” by Mary Elizabeth Frye
“Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.”
“Remember” by Christina Rossetti
“Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you planned:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.”
“Afterglow” by Helen Lowrie Marshall
“I’d like the memory of me to be a happy one.
I’d like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done.
I’d like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways,
Of happy times and laughing times and bright and sunny days.
I’d like the tears of those who grieve to dry before the sun
Of happy memories that I leave when life is done.”
Personal Reflections
“Success” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
“Farewell My Friends” by Rabindranath Tagore
“It was beautiful as long as it lasted,
The journey of my life.
I have no regrets whatsoever
Save the pain I’ll leave behind.
Those dear hearts who love and care…
And the strings pulling at the heart and soul…
The strong arms that held me up
When my own strength let me down.
At every turning of my life
I came across good friends,
Friends who stood by me
Even when the time raced me by.
Farewell, farewell my friends
I smile and bid you goodbye.
No, shed no tears for I need them not
All I need is your smile.
If you feel sad do think of me
For that’s what I’ll like when you live in the hearts
Of those you love, remember then
You never die.”
Literary Excerpts
From “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
“In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing when you look at the sky at night.”
From “Winnie the Pooh” by A.A. Milne
“If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together, keep me in your heart, I’ll stay there forever.”
“The Ship” by Bishop Brent
“A ship sails and I stand watching till she fades on the horizon, and someone at my side says, ‘She is gone.’ Gone where? Gone from my sight, that is all; she is just as large as when I saw her… The diminished size and total loss of sight is in me, not in her, and just at the moment when someone at my side says ‘she is gone,’ there are others who are watching her coming, and other voices take up a glad shout, ‘There she comes!’ – and that is dying.”