Metro
Ask the
Expert
Hospice from page A24
Your Cellular Superstore!
with
Jennifer Babbv
Wireless Toy,. Manager
What
should I do
if I need
to ha a wireless
Internet connection
for my laptop while
I'm on the go?
There are a couple of different
ways you can make this
appen. First, you should
look into using an air card. An air card
is a mobile device for a laptop that
allows the user to have Internet access
anywhere you have a cell phone signal.
Also, in many cases a mobile phone
can be used as a modem to connect
a personal computer to the Internet.
We'd be happy to discuss these and
other options when you visit one of our
40 Metro Detroit locations.
Ah
My son just discovered the text
essaging feature on his cell
phone and had way too much
fun la
onth sending text messages.
Now my cell phone bill is way higher
than it should be. Do you have any
suggestions about how to make text
messaging more economical?
This is a very simple problem
to fix. Right now you're being
harged for every individual
text message that is sent. All you
have to do is add text messaging to
your current plan. You can purchase a
good quantity of text messages for a
relatively inexpensive fee. When you
visit one of our stores to have this set
up, ask one of our expertz to show you
how to send text messages. That way
you and your son can enjoy this fun
wireless feature together.
Direct your questions to:
asktheexpertz@ wirelesstoyz.com
and visit the nearest locations at:
Jennifer Babby @ 12 Mile & Northwestern
248.945.0090
Elizabeth Price @ 10 Mile & Evergreen
248.948.5000
Sandy Maizi @ Orchard Lk. & Telegraph
248.253.1400
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A26
April 3 • 2008
bursts. Some are afraid of
what they are experiencing.
"The No. 1 value for
African Americans is
person-to person; how I
relate to another. When
someone dies, I show how
closely related I was through
respect and how hard it is to
lose someone."
Krakoff explained that
Jews focus on olam hazeh
(this world), not olam habah
(world to come). "At the end
of life, you are walking the
line between this world and
the world to come he said.
Depending on the situation,
he can offer either a prayer
for healing or the Vidui, the
deathbed confessional.
"When a person is dying,
we treat them as if they are
in this world because they
are:' he said. "We still talk
to that person, but not in
third person. No funeral
arrangements are made in
the room:'
As Palmer sees it, atheists and
agnostics feel let down by reli-
gion, often believing they don't
measure up to what God called
them to do.
"They are looking for peace he
said. "Religion needs to be a lov-
ing agent, not a judging agent."
Ann Wanetik, an MLSW
(licensed master's of social work)
who works for the Oakland
County Community Mental
Health Authority in Auburn Hills,
said, "What I found interesting is
that is looks as though most peo-
ple, no matter the ethnic group,
leave things for the last minute
and become flustered and rushed.
The panel left me wanting more
specifics about each faith's cus-
toms when someone has died
and about what emotional pieces
these customs fill."
Keynote speaker Thomas Lynch:
Mortals And Mortality
Funeral director Thomas Lynch
is the author of The Undertaking:
Life Studies from the Dismal
Trade, the story of his family's
funeral home in Milford, where
every year he "buries a couple hundred
of his townspeople." The business is
now into its third generation.
Lynch's book is said at be a catalyst
for Alan Ball's TV series, Six Feet Under,
and Lynch & Sons also was featured
on PBS' Frontline last October. Lynch is
a popular speaker with a down-home
sensibility, a wry wit and a compassion-
ate heart.
His presentation was punctuated
by images, definitions and video clips
offered up on a big screen in the syna-
gogue sanctuary.
Periodically, he'd remind the crowd
that certain words, like "mortal" and
"mortality," "grave" and "gravitas,"
"human" and "humus:' ironically appear
on the same page of the dictionary.
"It's a good thing we're all human: he
said. "All humans are trying to find our
way through this mortality, this mystery
— how to walk upright between the
gravities of vitality and mortality; birth
and death — that pulls always.
"Ours is a species that deals with
death by dealing with the dead:' he said.
"Humanity 101, where our differences
become the same.
"This is the most elemental defining
thing about us. For 40,000 years, we'd
been dealing with our dead to deal with
death. We process mortality by moving
them along.
"We go the distance with them to
bring them home he said.
"Ours is a species that deals with
death by dealing with the dead."
Other Views
Palmer, representing the broad spec-
trum of Christians, said, "In my own
experience, I've discovered that all
people, regardless of faith or lack of it,
are looking for someone to touch them,
to find some sense of meaning in their
lives. There is a place where God exists
in all of us ... Touch is how we leave the
imprint of God on people we encounter."
Salie explained, "Islam mandates
optimism. There is always hope and
trust in God. God has the last word, not
physicians."
In response to a question about belief
in afterlife, Salie said Muslims believe
"death is only the beginning, that the
world is nothing but a plantation for the
afterlife. You have to prepare for it:' he
said.
"The period between death and the
day of judgment is a transition. During
washing and burial, you are gentle and
speak as if they are still living. Their
spiritual banking account is still open!"
Goldman, expressing the humanist
viewpoint, said there are similarities
with Judaism in the focus on the here
and now.
"Once someone dies, there's a rela-
tionship of memory — we carry them
on because we are alive she said.
"In heaven, you enjoy the favor of
God and are reunited with loved ones;'
Palmer said of most Christian beliefs.
"You enjoy the richness of heaven as
soon as your last breath is taken."
In Judaism, there is the notion of the
body as the physical vessel for the soul,
and that the soul comes back into the
world or into another plane of existence
with God, Krakoff explained.
Memory, too, plays a key role in
Jewish tradition. "In the rabbinic litera-
ture, if we share a teaching, we remem-
ber them constantly, and they know we
are thinking of them:' he said. "It is said,
`Their lips move gently in the grave.'"
Beverly believes that for African
Americans energy today is invested in
the funeral. "We believe a great funeral
sets in motion what will happen after-
ward:' he said. "Lots of prayers are said
that were never said while they were liv-
ing. Only good words are said; don't say
anything bad because it might mess up
what happens in the beyond. There is
the idea that it will be better after:'
When asked if religion is ever a
problem surrounding death, Krakoff
mentioned knowing which rituals to
use when the death is a suicide or with
interfaith families.
"So often when it comes to death,
people want to do the right thing:' he
said. "They don't want to be hypocriti-
cal, but want to honor the person who
died. There's a lot of power in that:'
For Salie, "Islam is not the problem,
Muslims are a problem. The interpreta-
tion is a problem. Ignorance is a prob-
lem."
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