Profiting from the dead

In many respects, playing the organ for a funeral is fairly easy. Rarely are the songs anything but the Catholic Church's Greatest Hits ("Be Not Afraid," "On Eagles' Wings"). Only a few people drop in to sing as part of the funeral choir -- and they all know the songs they're doing.

The difference between the singers and the organist, of course, is a big one. Like the funeral home, the hospital/hospice, etc., organists get paid. Yes, we make money off the dead, and it's something we can't take too lightly.

But it's also quite a necessity. As I've learned since I got back to town, organists (especially for funerals) are in short supply (unlike singers), so they need to pay them. (When organists aren't full-time for their churches, their day jobs may make it very hard to play such funerals.) And in my case, my debts total up to pain and suffering, between longstanding student-loan debts and the new car I just bought out of necessity -- the old minivan was on its last legs and about to give out.

I need that money -- all weddings and funerals go to paying down my debts. But I'm fully aware that something sad -- something bad -- has to happen for me to earn my pay. And the gravity of the work (even if it's not technically difficult) makes it that much more meaningful.