Have you ever danced at a funeral? That would be unthinkable, absurd. Funerals are times of reflection, sorrow, and mourning. We expect funerals to bring sadness and tears, not joy and celebration.


Through the Scriptures, however, we learn that, one day, God will turn mourning into gladness and sadness into joy. That is God's plan. Because we know him, our ultimate destiny is heaven, and we have the solid assurance that one day all sickness, death and sorrow will be banished—we will be perfect and complete. All of this earth, including our pain, is temporary, but our joy will last forever.

The question now is: Why must we cry when we know we will meet again in a better place (Heaven)

Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return to Jerusalem, singing songs of everlasting joy. Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be overcome with joy and gladness.
Isaiah 51:11 NLT

We mourn because we will miss the person terribly and know that we will never get to meet them again.

If we both make heaven (God's willing), the bible says we will meet again. I think it calls for everyone doing all it takes to make heaven.

We morun because we miss them, but we do not mourn as if we will not see them again.

That's a good one.

We mourn because the person is gone. The thought of not being sure whether they'll be where you go when you die (heaven or hell), strikes us. And that's why we mourn.

I sometimes laugh when people mourn, it's reall funny. Esp.. when it's a guy crying, it make me feel... ohhh.. i just love it. Call me weird.. I know!

We mourn because we do not know where he or she is going(Heaven or Hell)

we mourn because we wont be seeing the person in a long time.

Seye, well i guess you are right! we may most likely meet in heaven, if we all get to make it!

Also, mourning is healthy. Taking time to remember a loved one and the realization of them being gone from our midst is hard.

Do we really mourn when someone dies or pretend to mourn? I think we pretend to mourn lest we're accused of being callous and insensitive. Ironically, most forget the dead a few days after.

razor

Not if it's someone you truly held dear. Who would go through the energy of pretending to mourn anyway? That's a bit sick.

apart from the fact that i will miss the person,i also think of where the person is going to and i also think bout the money that would be spent on the person

@ poster, not abad idea though, but only those whose conciense have been kinda seared with a hot iron wil celebrate at someones death.

Seye:

Have you ever danced at a funeral? That would be unthinkable, absurd. Funerals are times of reflection, sorrow, and mourning. We expect funerals to bring sadness and tears, not joy and celebration.


Through the Scriptures, however, we learn that, one day, God will turn mourning into gladness and sadness into joy. That is God's plan. Because we know him, our ultimate destiny is heaven, and we have the solid assurance that one day all sickness, death and sorrow will be banished—we will be perfect and complete. All of this earth, including our pain, is temporary, but our joy will last forever.

The question now is: Why must we cry when we know we will meet again in a better place (Heaven)

Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return to Jerusalem, singing songs of everlasting joy. Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be overcome with joy and gladness.
Isaiah 51:11 NLT

@poster Nice talk but still yet , Stupid Talk (didn't you read in ur bible that Jesus Wept in The Funeral Of Lazarus)

We mourn because we won't get to see them in this world again, we mourn because we'll miss those little things we share with them, we mourn because it's a time to mourn! Most of all, we mourn because being a Christian does not automatically secure a place for us in heaven. . . what if we make heaven and they don't? or what if the reverse is the case it means our parting is eternal! 

Call me insensitive, but I haven't mourned at a funeral, yet.

most nigerian funerals are celebrations of the individual's life and its actually celebrated,its also seen as a chance to see relatives and friends you have not seen in ages,only funeral of young people are mourned which is understandanble when they have left prolly little children,unfulfilled dreams,dies young e.t.c
from what i have experienced of nigerian funerals any death over 60 is celebrated,with a massive party

The unthinking man.

lucabrasi:

its also seen as a chance to see relatives and friends you have not seen in ages

I guess people go to funerals for different reasons

lucabrasi:

only funeral of young people are mourned. . . from what i have experienced of nigerian funerals any death over 60 is celebrated,with a massive party

Yes, they celebrate the death of people over 70 60, but they are still mourned! People still cry at their funerals. No matter what age a person dies, he/she will still be mourned by people closest to him/her. It's not only young people who are mourned in Nigeria.

candy:

I guess people go to funerals for different reasons

Yes, they celebrate the death of people over 70 60, but they are still mourned! People still cry at their funerals. No matter what age a person dies, he/she will still be mourned by people closest to him/her. It's not only young people who are mourned in Nigeria.

abeg lets be real,is that real mourning??they r crying in the morning or the day before and as soon as they turn back from the burial ground king sunny ade is already tunning his guitar, that isnt mourning its just going through the process like item 1,2,3,

i dont really understand what you mean by people going to burials for diffrent reasons ,so if you dont mind clarifying yourself,

lucabrasi:

abeg lets be real,is that real mourning??they r crying in the morning or the day before and as soon as they turn back from the burial ground king sunny ade is already tunning his guitar, that isnt mourning its just going through the process like item 1,2,3,

You probably didn't notice that I mentioned people closest to them. My dad died at the so-called ripe age, but till today, I still cry whenever I remember those little things he used to do when he was alive. King sunny Ade's guitar might be a kind of distraction, but believe me, if you trully love(d) the person, you will continue to mourn him/her for years even if he'she died at 150! It's not just a 1,2,3 process like you said.

lucabrasi:

i don't really understand what you mean by people going to burials for diffrent reasons ,so if you don't mind clarifying yourself,

You said and I quote: ''its also seen as a chance to see relatives and friends you have not seen in ages''
Getting together with family members is not why a lot of people go to funerals like you suggested. Some go to mourn the dead, some go for the free food and booze. So, I guess we all go for differerent reasons! I personally won't go for a burial for the purpose of meeting long-lost relatives!

candy:

You probably didn't notice that I mentioned people closest to them. My dad died at the so-called ripe age, but till today, I still cry whenever I remember those little things he used to do when he was alive. King sunny Ade's guitar might be a kind of distraction, but believe me, if you trully love(d) the person, you will continue to mourn him/her for years even if he'she died at 150! It's not just a 1,2,3 process like you said.

You said and I quote: ''its also seen as a chance to see relatives and friends you have not seen in ages''
Getting together with family members is not why a lot of people go to funerals like you suggested. Some go to mourn the dead, some go for the free food and booze. So, I guess we all go for differerent reasons! I personally won't go for a burial for the purpose of meeting long-lost relatives!

i dont completely agree with you there,fair enough the memory of your lost one will always be with you,i lost my mum as well and i know what its like,mine is worse cause she died kinda young but our genetic make up are diffrent,men can keep the whole thing in and women have to let it all out,im not sayn its a sign of weakness but thats just the way it is, but the music,dancing and what not is all part of the grieving process,when fela anikulapo kuti died,tho he was for want of a better word eccentric but he said that his death was to be celebrated by his fans and family and hos family though conservative respected his wishes, watchn on tv then you ll see some crying while drinking beer,smoking and all sorts,the analogy here is that people grief in diffrent ways but celebrating the person with parties is part of it.

like you,i wouldnt go for the free food as well as a lot of people,the people throwing the parties wearing the hundreds of thousand naira lace,with the musiciand and spraying money e.t.c miss their dad or mum as much as you and me and im sure free food and drinks wasnt their motive for throwing a party costing tens of millions,either we agree with it or not,the fact is that the peculiar african way of mourning process includes celebrating the dead no matter how much we miss them unless the person died young like my mum or the death was horrible or traumatic, you seem to be using yourself as an example,if i were to use myself then i wouldnt do that as well,but im using the african way of doing things as a yardstick to measure this,you might not because every single individual's family s diffrent but the majority of africans will go to a burial and see it as a chance to mourn the dead,socialise and meet up with friends and relatives,doesnt mean they are not mourning or that they wish the person dead!

@poster,Have you ever lost someone?

i just lost a dear friend on Monday, below 25 years. in the midnight fire gutted his house and he died. the thing is back in school, he was a real role model, a Child of God, if you will.

In times like this, one cant help but wonder if there is any hope for the rest of us, who compared to the departed, are still struggling with our spiritual lives.

its sad, when the person is so close, and i guess people cry for various reasons, but mostly cos we'll never get to see the person AGAIN in this LIFE.
RIP Ade

Seye:

Have you ever danced at a funeral? That would be unthinkable, absurd. Funerals are times of reflection, sorrow, and mourning. We expect funerals to bring sadness and tears, not joy and celebration.

This is strange. In my place we always dance at funerals. Different groups coming to pay condolence visit usually come with a dancing troup and the family members of the deceased dance along with them carrying/ displaying the photograph of the dead person.

It is only the chief mourner i.e the widower or widow who does not partake in the dancing.

It is the level of our faith that wil determine how we re going to react to a sudden depature of our loved one.no matter d circumstances abt their death,their wil be a day d memory of d life they ve once lived wil flash on our mind.