Pine Box

Part of the priesthood is to be a rock in the middle of the good, bad, and ugly moments of life. This past week tragedy struck a family in the parish with the death of their young son. Not being able to pay for all of the funeral expenses up front, Dave and I volunteered to make his casket. 

A rather sobering project take on, building a child of God's resting place as they await the Resurrection was actually a real honor. 

Tounge and grove blue pine was the lumber of choice. In the Rocky Mountain west where many forests have been hit hard with beetle kill, if you catch the dead pine trees right, they have a grey tone to them, which we call blue pine.  

Dave and his shop have all the right tools. 

Plan your work and work your plan. Most of the fastening came from screws on the inside. 

Keeping it simple was the goal. No fancy finish. 

Just a good coat of linseed oil. 

Should work. 

It only seemed fitting to brand it with the Rocking Chi Rho. After all, in our baptism we are branded for Christ, we are His. Baptism is where we spiritually die and rise with Christ. That sign is a reminder that our physical death does not have the last word. Resurrection does. May our little brother rest here in peace until the Lord awaken him on the Last Day.