Cleveland, MS. Own small farm near Booneville, MS | Didn't read all the posts so this may have already been said. If so, I apologize, but here is my two cents. I have been going to and taken to funerals as far back as I can remember. In fact, one of my earliest memories is of my father shedding tears at his brother's funeral. I didn't understand it at the time, but I did remember it. Later, as I got older I began to understand it. My dad was not usually one to show his emotions, but my memory of his reaction to his brother's death helped me to know and understand that he did have feelings and experience the same emotions that I did. In short, it made my dad more "human" to me. IMO there is certainly nothing "wrong" with children attending funerals and visitations. In fact, there is probably much that it "right" in having them there.
All that being said, I have one more question that, in my opinion, is probably the most important. Are your children well behaved? I do not mean, "Are they perfect?" No child is, in spite of their grandparents' opinions. As a preacher who has dealt with and participated in many funerals ranging from immediate family to people totally unknown to me, I can tell you that a funeral home is no place for "unruly" children.
That being said, funerals serve several purposes. Primarily, funerals are not for the dead, but for the living and, in my opinion, should be a celebration of the life of the deceased as well as a mourning of their passing. While death is the end of the physical life it is not THE end. It is merely a change, a new beginning of a different existence. If people, including children, can be led to understand that, it makes the passing of a loved one much easier to deal with.
I hope I have helped and not hurt. |
Question about kids attending funerals
