What to preach when someone dies?

Music and light are the antipodes of silence and darkness.

The former expands and illuminates―the latter contracts and obscures. 

Nothing is more intolerable to the human mind than continual silence and darkness, hence harmonising tunes and beautiful, sparkling lights are always beneficial around the bed of the dying. 

Spirit voices will unite with yours, and when yours cease to be heard, theirs will fall upon the newborn spirit, animating it with lofty emotions. 

When the currents of life are expiring under the influence of music, the dying one passes away as peacefully and harmoniously as the vanishing notes that affect him. 

Surround the couch of the dying with flowers―let gorgeous lights illuminate the room, and sweet tunes sound forth from human lips―or delicately adjusted chords, and when the birth shall have been accomplished, the newborn spirit will thank you. 

Have no disconsolate funeral sermon preached―throw a halo of cheerfulness over the scene, even if it is tinged with a sombre cloud of sorrow. 

Any effect made upon the body through the instrumentality of soothing music is immediately imparted to the spirit. 

In some diseases, it is far superior to medicine, and its efficacy in assisting the transit of the dying is far more serviceable than prayer.

―Spirit of Lucretus