Where do we go to when we die? Or at least where do we go to while we are waiting for the final judgement by God, and the end of time?
Do we sit in some heavenly waiting room, like a kind of purgatory, waiting for the moment of our resurrection, or are we perhaps able to sleep it all off and wake up just in time for the glories to come?
On the island of Chiloé in southern Chile, they had another idea – little houses for the dead to rest awhile, here on earth, until that great day finally arrives. In parts of Chiloé the cemeteries are like small housing estates, or rather estates of small houses – each offering a place of refuge and waiting for someone who has died. And with the added advantage of a place that their mourning relatives can come and visit.
Inside these houses are flowers, mementos, smiling photos of the deceased with family and friends, all to create a place of refuge for their long and final wait.
And on judgement day, when all are brought to account for their actions during this life, they will arise, open the door of their house, and stand before their God – with the peace and beauty of this little refuge behind them.
Read more about Chiloé here.
