Blandina continued to live on in Christian memory as one of the brave women martyrs of the early church, such as Perpetua and Felicita. During the early church, she gave hope to many Christians, with the knowledge that God would sustain them in persecution, regardless the weakness of their bodies and the violence of their enemies.

When the Roman authorities hung Blandina to a pole and exposed her to a crowd of blood-thirsty spectators, they thought they could frighten anyone who rebelled to their rules. What they didn’t know is that they were holding her up as an example that gave new strength and courage to other Christians.
The Persecution at Lyons
Contrary to popular opinion, the Romans were not in the habit of killing Christians. Many disliked them and distrusted them, particularly in the beginning, when their teachings seemed too new and strange. But only a few emperors launched a sustained program against them – most famously Diocletian, who in 303 AD started a persecution that lasted eight years.
Some violent persecutions came from crowds who looked for a reason for their calamities. This is what happened in the region of Vienne and Lyons (ancient Lugdunum), in what is now southern France.
A lively community of Christians, including Romans, Greeks, and Gauls, lived there. The famous theologian Irenaeus, who was probably born in today’s Turkey, served there as a presbyter.
By the year 176, the people of Vienne and Lyon had suffered one disaster after another – from a deadly plague to repeated raids by Germanic tribes, Many people believed the gods were taking revenge against the Christians who refused to worship them. Because of this, they kept Christians away from communal areas such as the baths and the forum, and attacked them with insults, beatings, robberies, and stoning.
In 177, this violence reached its peak as a frustrated mob brought the Christians to the magistrates. After admitting their faith in Christ, Christians were sent to prison to wait for the governor’s verdict. The local bishop, Pothinus, was imprisoned in spite of his old age and poor health, and died in prison two days later.
Slaves received the worst treatment because, by law, they were allowed to be tortured in order to obtain information. The authorities even arrested pagan slaves who worked for Christian families, as they were most willing to offer information in order to escape torture. In fact, in an effort to give the authorities what they wanted, some of them denounced practices these families had never followed, such as eating human flesh and living immoral lives.
Blandina
Blandina was a Christian slave who refused to give up her faith and to give any information. Because of this, she was cruelly tortured. Her martyrdom is described in a letter which might have been written by Irenaeus and has been preserved by Eusebius of Caesarea (who wrote after Diocletian’s persecution).
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For four hundred years while the Israelites endured slavery in Egypt, every time they walked past Joseph’s grave, they remembered the promise that one day they’d take those bones to the Promised Land. Joseph’s bones were a visible reminder of God’s promise to the Israelites. Our grave is a reminder to all who pass by that these bones will one day be raised. Every cemetery is a testimony. Every tombstone is a reminder. Every dead body is a promise waiting to be fulfilled.

The postmodern axiom that utilitarianism is the highest virtue has been part of the reason some faithful Christians are opting for cremation when they die. Cemeteries, after all, take up precious land. Others opt for cremation because it is usually less than half the cost of burial. And still others choose to be cremated because cemeteries are just too eerie. They would rather be spread over their favorite mountainside than reside in a macabre cemetery. One man put his father’s ashes in a finger hole of his bowling ball, so his dad would be with him when he bowled a perfect game.
Environmental enthusiasts affirm California recently joining Washington, Colorado, Oregon and Vermont in legalizing human composting. After all, according to one estimate, cremation releases an average of 534.6 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air per body, totaling 360,000 metric tons of greenhouse gasses a year just in the U.S.
In composting, the body is put in a container and covered with straw, wood chips and alfalfa that allows microbes to break down the body in about 30 days. After curing for another 2-6 weeks, the family can use the cubic yard of composted-loved one to fertilize their flower bed.
Composting denies that each individual is a special creation made in God’s own image and precious in God’s sight. Treating the body as nothing more than part of the material world, denies the uniqueness and worth of each individual. Composting is not a new idea although its widening acceptance is new.
In the 1958 movie Houseboat, widower Cary Grant teaches his son the meaning of death. Holding a pitcher of water while they sit on the side of his houseboat, Grant tells his son, “The pitcher has no use at all except as the container of something. In this case a container for water which you can think of as my life-force.” Pouring the water into the river, Grant explains, “The river is like the universe, you haven’t lost it [life-force/water]. It’s just that everything constantly changes. So perhaps when our life-force, our souls, leave our bodies they go back into God’s universe and the security of becoming part of all life again, all nature.” In other words, the human body is just matter that can be recycled into a tree or garden.
Radical Feminist Rosemary Radford Reuther in the 1980s describes what happens in death in more academic prose:
[O]ur existence ceases as individuated ego-organism and dissolves back into the cosmic matrix of matter/energy, from which new centers of the individuation arise. It is the matrix, rather than our individuated centers of being, that is ‘everlasting,’ that subsists underneath the coming to be and passing away of individuated beings and even planetary worlds.
I recently explained to my young grandson that in the past churches often had cemeteries located next to them. As people entered the church, they were reminded that life on this earth is short, thus forcing them to adjust their earthly priorities in light of the eternal. I asked my grandson what it would mean if the church had a swimming pool next door rather than a cemetery. He answered, “Life is short, enjoy it while you can.” Perhaps that’s another reason for composting. The dead are out of sight and we can get on with our fun.
Composting and even cremation destroy the individual. They deny the truth in the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting”. They deny Scripture’s truth, “For he [God] chose us in him [Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons….”
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Can you imagine turning round to almighty God, who has given us a good gift, and telling him he’s given us something that will either make us sin or is just plain bad for us? (one for the teetotallers among us to chew on.) But, of course, it applies to all of us. We can so easily call bad what God calls good and refuse to enjoy what God has given us to enjoy as though we are either more holy than him or just might offend him if we enjoy the thing he gave us.

As we’re heading into Christmas, no doubt many of us are thinking about presents. Not just the presents we might like to get but the various presents we will buy for others. There is something especially lovely about thinking about others, what they might like, and seeing them really enjoy the thing that you bought them.
There wouldn’t be much that would disappoint me more than spending an absolute fortune on some amazing gift for my children only for them never to play with it. Obviously, if I miss the mark and get them something they don’t want that’s more frustration with myself that I either didn’t know them well enough or just got it wrong (shout out to all the folks who bought someone a football top because you know they support ‘a red team’ and inadvertently buy a Man Utd shirt for a Liverpool fan!) But I am even more disappointed if I get them something I know they’ll love – and they do love it and thank me for it – but still they never play with or use it. That doesn’t please me at all!
The reason I get my kids presents – and not only my kids, but my nieces and nephews, my parents and my friends – is because I want them to enjoy it. I don’t really have many skills of any use whatsoever, but one thing I’m alright at is getting presents. I don’t always get it right, but more often than not, I can generally land a decent gift. Even where I don’t hit the bullseye, I think most people can at least see why I thought the gift was a good idea for them. The execution may not be bang on, but the thought behind it (I hope) is clear enough. I like it when people really enjoy the gifts I get them and I can cope if they tell me I didn’t hit the mark but they get why I thought it might. I don’t mind really if people are honest and tell me they just didn’t really like what I got them altogether (they’re grateful for the thought but please don’t get a carpet sample catalogue again!) But I am most disappointed of all by the present that is received with great joy, one I know they really do want, but they just refuse to play with it or use it.
Just imagine, this Christmas, you buy your kids an absolutely fantastic gift. You know they want it and you absolutely know they’ll enjoy it. They unwrap it on Christmas Day and they are so pleased. They love it. It’s just what they wanted. But because it’s so special to them, they never use it. They just keep saying, ‘thank you for the gift’ over and over to you. When you encourage them to use it, they tell you it’s far too special. They just kind of stare at it, repeatedly telling you how grateful they are for it, but never actually enjoying it.
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