I just attended visiting hours at the local funeral home for our neighbor who died of a heart attack at age 41, leaving a wife and two year old. I know they celebrate Christmas but I have no idea what they believe and practice. (Many of the people I know who celebrate Christmas wouldn’t say that they are Christian.)
Regardless, when responding to the grieving I keep away from expressing in words any beliefs. No one wants to hear, ‘He is in a better place’. It is up to the grieving to conjure from inside themselves what comforts them. One of the benefits of a church or temple service is that we who are grieving take the words of the minister, priest, or rabbi into our hearts, and say, “Yes, I know what that means; I feel comfort; in the midst of this loss, I feel hope.”
Regardless, when responding to the grieving I keep away from expressing in words any beliefs. No one wants to hear, ‘He is in a better place’. It is up to the grieving to conjure from inside themselves what comforts them. One of the benefits of a church or temple service is that we who are grieving take the words of the minister, priest, or rabbi into our hearts, and say, “Yes, I know what that means; I feel comfort; in the midst of this loss, I feel hope.”
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