Ceremony Ideas for COVID-19 Families Receiving Cremains by Mail

A Blessing for the Ashes

The US Postal Service provides a free box for remains shipment.

Can you imagine it? Many families of people who’ve died in the COVID-19 era, will be receiving the crematory’s box of cremated remains in the mail. Funeral directors may not have time to deliver and for now, in some parts of the country, they’d rather not have you enter the funeral home to pick up. Here’s a blessing by Naomi King, a Unitarian Universalist, that you can read when the box arrives, or anytime you’re transferring the remains from one vessel to another. NOTE: Please always feel free to edit and rewrite any reading to make it work for you and your family members.

Whispering Breath of Mystery, rattling the windows of our spirits with tears and sorrow, draw us back to the wonderful, the loving, the beautiful times we had with _______, whose ashes we now hold. Recall to us his/her/their/this one’s inspirational actions, caring, and commitment. Grant us these good stories as shelter from the blasts of loneliness and from the hunger for being together as we once were. Together we shall be again, ashes mingled with ashes, as together we came out of the stars and earth, stardust and mud, extraordinary and mundane. These ashes are blessed, because __________'s life was holy, worthy, and meaningful. These ashes are blessed, a reminder of the gift of ________'s life. These ashes are blessed, a gift of return to this earth, a gift of renewal. We are blessed to have known her/him/them. We are blessed to carry on some part of this one’s /his/her/their story. And from such blessing, we give thanks for the life that has gifted our own. —By Naomi King