Is It OK to Talk to the Grave of Your Loved One?

Introduction

by Carolyn Henderson

Death is a delicate subject, and none of us knows much about what happens after we die. In John 13: 33, Jesus says, “Where I am going you cannot come,” reinforcing the separation between this world and the next.

At the same time, He reassures us in John 14: 2: “In my Father’s house are many rooms . . . I am going there to prepare a place” where our departed loved ones have a better, eternal home.

Realistically, this isn’t enough, and we seek ways to comfort ourselves. One means that many people use is talking to the person who just died.

Is this okay?

Yes, it is. Love doesn’t end when another person's breath does. At a time when we're hurting, the last thing we need is someone chastising us for talking to our lost loved one. If you find yourself uncertain, here are a few thoughts.

Carolyn Henderson is an author, home educator, and business owner who integrates Christianity with real life, and common sense with Christianity. Her books include: Live Happily on Less -- 52 Ideas to Renovate Your Life and Lifestyle and Grammar Despair. Read more from Carolyn on her blog Commonsense Christianity

Don't Add Guilt to Grief

When something no longer works, move on.

At some point, you’ll find yourself talking less and less to your lost loved one, and more and more about them; we do not disappear completely from this earth when our body does. God described Himself to Moses as

“ . . . the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”

(Exodus 3: 6).

Despite these men being long dead on earth, God spoke of them as if they were still alive -- not only in that other place where we can’t go yet, but in the hearts, minds, and memories of the people still living on earth.

Death is a horrible thing, and it wrenches the lives of those left behind. If talking to the person lost helps, let it, and don't add guilt to the burden of grief.