In our local natural history museum, you can see tall wooden posts where years ago local people once put ashes of deceased and burned relatives. It was supposed to help with transition to the spirit life.
While many of the people here have now become believers in Jesus, many remnants from this older method of thinking still exist and cause issues. The practice of mixing old beliefs with new beliefs is called syncretism.
In this photo today, these little houses are built on top of the graves in a Christian graveyard. It isn't just about covering the tomb out of respect or recognition. There really is a belief that the ancestor or parent or friend buried in the graveyard needs a place to eat, and wear clothes, and so they make these little homes on top of the grave for their loved one to live in. This is a continuation, with a few modifications, of the traditional practice. It is honoring the spirits of the dead and providing physical assistance to ease their passage into the afterlife.
This is Syncretism. Some people say it is just tradition and they know better... but the fact that they still practice this seems to show otherwise. The idea that our eyes close on earth in death and open with Christ... ideas such as this seem to be lost.
If we begin to think, though... I think every culture has these syncretistic ideas... a mixing of Biblical teaching with some of our own human ideas that meld together and form something foreign to the original intent of the Bible. Let us all be introspective and careful in our reading, devotion, and sharing.
