LDS funerals
Several years ago I was at a funeral. For an old man that had died. I think he was the only active member in his family. The last talk was given by local church leader and felt "off". It had the feeling of a gospel "rah-rah" talk, that seemed to have little to do with the deceased of the feelings of the mourners. Now this wasn't a sad death, he was an old man and had lived a full life.
Now more recently I went to an LDS funeral involving a young tragic death. And there were a few moments that felt "off." Like they were wrong notes. The wrong tone. I won't go into the details, because I'm sure they were doing the best they knew how. But it was almost like "why are people sad, what's the big deal here? She's in heaven." It's a fine line between remembering a person, mourning their death, and having faith in God and belief in the gospel of Christ. Sometimes spiking the ball in the endzone celebrating Christ's victory doesn't strike the right note. Now there were parts of this funeral that were absolutely right and perfect. And I'd never be upset with a person who was doing their best. I'm not upset at all. I'm just trying to wrap my ahead around the best way to handle these funerals.
|