No matter whether the person who died was the chief of the village, or related to the chief's mother, or just regular folk related to the chief's mother's sister's son -- any funeral at Naselesele Village is a big event. And every family who's related to the dead person's clan is obligated to show up, or at least have some body show up as a representative of that family. Even if that representative has to come from the smaller outer islands (Viti Levu is the main island and the biggest, then Vanua Levu, and Taveuni -- where Naselesele is located, is third largest)...never mind the expense.
During a funeral (or traditional wedding), each clan is assigned a particular task to help feed the sometimes hundreds of people who will come during the two- to three-day ceremonial duties and feasting.
Farmers (which all the village people are to some extent) are mandated to contribute dalo (taro) to feed the crowd, as well as to give to departing guests. Monies are collected to buy a cow (or two or three, depending on the wealth of the dead one's clan), pigs and chickens...and most also contribute some side dish. The funeral feast becomes a humongous pot luck!
Cooking and clean up crews are given little direction, as everyone seems to know his part, having been raised to do this type of gathering since childhood -- tradition ingrained for several generations.
There are even "professional" pray-ers and mourners -- this task delegated to the older women... usually led by the chief's wife, Matawalu.
The grave site is usually within the village perimeter, which has been prepared the day before by a clan responsible for such things...as also constructing the casket assigned to the clan or family who has traditionally done so in the past.
Sometimes, if the dead is a chief of a village as well as chief over an island, the show of respect (more cows killed) may run the village into debt!
Having worked at Glen Abbey Mortuary as a part-time file clerk, i discovered how expensive it is to die in San Diego (and maybe in most parts of the U.S. as well). A casket alone can run into the thousands. i've told my Mom to do away with my body in the cheapest way possible -- cremation -- if i died here. Then to use my ashes to fertilize the kalamansi tree in the backyard.
Absent in the body, present with the LORD. And when i join other believers in receiving a glorified body like JESUS did when He resurrected, it doesn't matter what method would used to return my body to dust. GOD -- Almighty and infinitely wise and Who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all i could ever ask or think -- can certainly put together this body again... and even much better than the original model.
To me, death is but the door to the real adventure! The wonderful GODventurez our Father in Heaven has blessed me with thus far are but mere shadows of the real thing. For followers of CHRIST, death is not to be feared for we believe in an afterlife that is gloriously beyond our highest expectations. As children of GOD, we are assured of our place in Heaven by our faith in JESUS. Best of all, those who trust in CHRIST have the breathtaking hope of seeing Him face to face -- this GOD/Man who laid down His life for sinful mankind. The Reality of being enveloped in His loving presence makes death lose its sting.
Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd; i shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Yea, though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
i will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Psalm 23 is a promise from GOD that whatever kinds of valleys we may go through during the seasons of our lives, we can be confident as GOD's children that He walks with us through any and all difficulties that will arise, so that we need not fear any evil (worldly temptations, natural catastrophies, the certainty of death). GOD, our Father, in CHRIST, protects and comforts us through each storm.
This promise is the confidence for those who trust in JESUS CHRIST as LORD and Good Shepherd of their lives, today and forever.
The CHRIST, the Son of GOD, is standing outside your heart's door, patiently and lovingly waiting for you to turn to Him.
JESUS awaits tenderly and graciously...He will not barge in without your say-so. Though He has the unlimited, infinite power of GOD -- power so indescribably mighty as to speak the heavens and earth into existence -- He will not force you to open the door. 
CHRIST has already offered Himself for your transgression -- He has paid the ultimate price for your very, very steep fine -- by His own blood on the Cross.
You are free to be truly free -- if you but choose to accept JESUS as LORD of your life.
Only He has the authority to forgive sin...and only He can wipe out your past record and give you a clean slate. 
Only He can make you new. 
Muhammad is not The Way. Joseph Smith is not IT -- and ET is not it, either. Even Oprah 's spirituality -- without the cross of JESUS -- is a lie from the father of lies...satan. 
If you were to die today -- struck dead by lightning, by a DUI driver, by a massive heart attack, by a cancer, by your own angry kin whose Superbowl team had just lost, by a robber with a gun at the 7-11 or am/pm store, by a lethal fall because your bungee or parachute malfunctioned...do you have peace of mind now, this very moment, that confident assurance that you will go to Heaven...that paradise "pie in the sky" that is every CHRISTian's Reality? 
What does a CHRISTian backpacker-style traveler bush farmer have in common with the rich and semi-famous folks of La Jolla? Not very much at all -- except maybe the love for an ocean view and the ocean itself, with its majestic and roaring waves. And, of course, in La Jolla, the ocean view (as almost everywhere else in the USofA) comes with a very steep price tag, if that view sits on prime real estate.
GOD, 
GOD's nature called to us...and we satisfied ourselves with His handiwork.
i've been feeling homesick for GOD's nature for a couple weeks...my heart feeling little sharp jabs like a pin cushion.
i would see a fiery patch of late afternoon sky in between the roof tops...and wistfully imagine how that orange patch might look stretched out over unobstructed horizon.
i took this photo of the sitting seagull, posing for me like a sitting duck (i like taking pictures of reflections...and i like reflecting at the beach).
And another...someone else had drawn this, but i knew SPIRIT made me notice it so that my heart may be uplifted. And for me, the bottom line always -- it was from GOD.
Path to the freshwater pool...from the bure to the pool takes around five minutes...more, if muddied by heavy rains.
Way to the fresh-water pool, past a neighbor's kava farm, inundated with Impatience flowers.
Fresh-water pool used for drinking water, bathing and washing clothes, even as a source for tasty prawns.
And even for snorkeling fun for neighbor's kids!
i like to drink my coffee and read my Bible surrounded by these Impatience flowers. 
This is where i sit to watch the sun come up, shining through the trees, hearing birds chirping, roosters crowing -- offering prayers, reading my Bible, journaling in my Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest book. (The Snoopy kite is from 
Trees are "ringed" at the base to kill them, for some provide too much shade for the dalo to grow well. The ringed trees eventually die and dry up...that's when farmers have to watch out for falling trees during stormy weathers. The sound of falling timber is loud in the bush.
The grass was planted piece by piece and took less than two months to become lawn. Do you know that saying, Somebody's junk is somebody else's treasure. Well, here's my saying akin to that...What may be obnoxious weed at the farm is beautiful green lawn for my garden.
