Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

I’d like to read to you these words by Kevin Kelley (abridged):

The root of [life] can be traced back to the life of an atom. An atom’s brief journey through an everyday technical artifact, such as a flashlight battery, is a flash of existence unlike anything else in its long life. Most hydrogen atoms were born at the beginning of time. They are as old as time itself. They were created in the fires of the big bang and dispersed into the universe as a uniform warm mist. Thereafter, each atom has been on a lonely journey. When a hydrogen atom drifts in the unconsciousness of deep space, hundreds of kilometers from another atom, it is hardly much more active than the vacuum surrounding it. After billions of years, a hydrogen atom might be swept up by the currents of gravity radiating from a congealing galaxy. Another billion years later it bumps into the first bit of matter it has ever encountered. After millions of years it meets the second. In time it meets another of its kind, a hydrogen atom. They drift together in mild attraction until aeons later they meet an oxygen atom. Suddenly something weird happens. In a flash of heat they clump together as one water molecule. Maybe they get sucked into the atmosphere circulation of a planet. It enjoys speed, movement, and change such as would not be possible in the comatose recesses of space. Now it hardly ever stops changing, never stops interacting. The hydrogen atoms in a human body completely refresh every seven years. As we age we are really a river of cosmically old atoms. The carbons in our bodies were created in the dust of a star. The bulk of matter in our hands, skin, eyes, and hearts was made near the beginning of time, billions of years ago. We are much older than we look.

(the full text is here)

For [the deceased], this journey of his/her atoms are no different. For a time several trillion atoms converged and from this came [the deceased], and he/she offered us a unique contribution to the world. The atoms changed many times over in the course of his/her life, and now that he/she is gone we can expect the same. Some will stay with him/her for some time, here in the ground, or as his/her ashes. Some will be reclaimed by the earth around him/her, swallowed back up into the great entropy unfolding around us. But many of those atoms, converted into steam and gasses, made liquid, or otherwise, find themselves moving on.

Carl Sagan said: “Personally, I would be delighted if there were a life after death, especially if it permitted me to continue to learn about this world and others, if it gave me a chance to discover how history turns out.”

While I cannot speak to you of [the deceased]’s soul, I will speak to you of his/her body. I like to think one day that these atoms will find their way into new generations of humans. While [the deceased] may be gone, his/her atoms will be there. They will continue to bear witness to our history as it plays out before us. And in this way, I think, we all play a part in the passing of time. I like to think that through this journey, Carl’s wish is granted.

I will tell you that [the deceased] is a person who lived well [details]. And this is a person made of the same star-stuff as everyone else: we all are the legacy of the big bang.

We came from stars, and to the stars we will all one day go. But until that day, our decedents will carry pieces of him/her. There’s something beautiful in that. [The deceased], thank you for living. Thank you for offering us unique ideas, for being a part of our community, and for showing us that miracles are right here in front of us. In love, and in awe, we come together to wish you goodbye.