Why “It is better to go to the house of mourning.”

This quote comes from Ecclesiastes which I have been working with (as I strive to finish my book by the August 1 deadline!). For the first time I noticed the rest of the verse.

It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting;
for this is the end of everyone,
and the living will lay it to heart.

Ecclesiastes: 7:2 

“For this is the end of everyone and the living will lay it to heart.” This is good, practical advice for caring for those who mourn. You go to a party, you might have fun but will people really care that you were there? But if you go to a funeral, if you call up a friend whose husband, wife, father, friend, or child has died and just be with them…they will remember. The living, those who remain behind and are missing those who have gone ahead, they will feel that in their heart. And we will be grateful.

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