Confessions of a funeral director : how death saved my life / Caleb Wilde

Includes bibliographical references

1. Death Negative -- 2. Playtime in the Casket Room -- 3. Broken Open -- 4. Death Sabbath -- 5. Searching for the Divine in the Dark -- 6. Sacred Dirt -- 7. The Myth of the Death-Care Amateur -- 8. Front-Door Policy -- 9. Listening to the Voice of Silence -- 10. Grief as Worship -- 11. Sara's Mosaic -- 12. Heaven on Earth -- 13. Sam McKinney's Mysticism -- 14. Active Remembering -- 15. Finding My Words -- 16. Yin and Yang

We are a people who deeply fear death. While humans are biologically wired to evade death for as long as possible, we have become too adept at hiding from it, vilifying it, and-when it can be avoided no longer-letting the professionals take over. Sixth-generation funeral director Caleb Wilde understands this reticence and fear. He had planned to get as far away from the family business as possible. He wanted to make a difference in the world, and how could he do that if all the people he worked with were dead. Slowly, he discovered that caring for the deceased and their loved ones was making a difference-in other people's lives to be sure, but it also seemed to be saving his own