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In Newsday, a large NY paper...print and online...the bold and underline is mine.
ASKING THE CLERGY
How would you explain death to a child?
November 24, 2007
Rabbi Benjamin David, Temple Sinai, Roslyn Heights:
Explaining death to young ones must be among the most challenging aspects of my work. We as a Jewish community believe that although the body cannot endure eternally, the soul lives on. The spirit of those who have passed, all that we learned from them and have become as a result of knowing them, that very much endures within us. Moreover, just as the soul survives, so does our memory of family and friends. As we take the time to recall them and our ever precious moments with them, they remain very much with us, thereby granting comfort to us and to them. Judaism has many mechanisms in place and very specific prayers which help us to do all of this regularly as a community. We draw strength from one another.
Habeeb Ahmed, president, Islamic Center of Long Island, Westbury:
It is important that we are careful to explain such a sensitive topic in an age-appropriate manner. It is said that God has love and compassion which is 70 times that of a mother. (How exactly do they measure that metric?) You can inform the child that their loved one has gone to a better place and is with God. The Quran states: "Truly! To God we belong, and truly, to Him we shall return." Muslims believe that the life of this world is temporary. They also believe that after the present life, life continues spiritually until your physical being is resurrected on the Day of Judgment. God tells us that everything He created is for an appointed term.
The Rev. Larry Dunlap, United Methodist Church, East Quogue, and Beach United Methodist Church, Westhampton Beach:
I have three sons, and when their grandparents died my wife, Kathy, and I explained death in terms that were age appropriate. That does not mean we used axioms such as Poppy has gone to sleep or Grandma has gone on a long trip. It is best not to hide death from the children because it is a part of life. Children need to be allowed to attend funerals so they can observe how people deal with grief. I like to tell children about water bugs and dragonflies. Water bugs start out swimming in the water. One day, they climb the lily stalk and discover that they're a dragonfly. No matter how much they try to return to tell their friends about the thrill of flying, they are no longer able to swim down to tell their friends. The same is true when a loved one dies. They have gone to another place and can't come back, but some day we will see them again when it's our turn to climb that lily stalk.
The Rev. Joseph Tucker, Joyful Heart Baptist Church, Hempstead:
I'd tell the child that, according to holy scripture, there are two places to go after death: heaven or hell. And that for his/ her mommy, daddy, loved one and all others of God's children believing in God, death is the doorway to going upward to Heaven to be like angels with wings to fly all over God's heaven in service to God. And, that God shuts the door to heaven to those who do not believe in God. The only place for those who don't believe in God is to go to hell, the place of the evil dragon and his demon dragons with tails that weigh them downward forever to the bottomless pit of hell where nonbelievers in the eternal good creator God will stay forever. And, because you believe in God also, after you die here on Earth, you will go through God's doorway to heaven also to join your loved ones with wings to live God's given gift of eternal life in heaven. (This one is my personal fave)
Bonnie Thompson, high priestess, 3rd Degree Alexandrian Wiccan, Hicksville:
Explaining death to a child is never an easy thing to do. Coming from a Wiccan perspective, it makes it a bit easier to tolerate. The cycle of life, death and rebirth is prominent in the Wiccan religion. When someone passes away, their spirit never dies. The physical body in which they dwell passes away, but inside of that body is an eternal spirit that lives forever. They go to a place we call "Summerland," which is what the Christian refers to as heaven. There they meet with other spirits of those family and friends that they love who also have crossed over. The person who died always will be with you in the spiritual form, as well as in your heart. Their spirit is still very much alive and is still with you, though you can't see them. They can hear you and see you and be with you. All you have to do is believe and know that they are always with you and that they haven't left you. One day they will reincarnate, which means their spirit will be born again. Families and close friends have deep spiritual bonds, and they stay together and reincarnate together. When they come back to this earth plane in which we live, they will come back to you again in another physical form. Their love and spirit will always be with you.
ASKING THE CLERGY
How would you explain death to a child?
November 24, 2007
Rabbi Benjamin David, Temple Sinai, Roslyn Heights:
Explaining death to young ones must be among the most challenging aspects of my work. We as a Jewish community believe that although the body cannot endure eternally, the soul lives on. The spirit of those who have passed, all that we learned from them and have become as a result of knowing them, that very much endures within us. Moreover, just as the soul survives, so does our memory of family and friends. As we take the time to recall them and our ever precious moments with them, they remain very much with us, thereby granting comfort to us and to them. Judaism has many mechanisms in place and very specific prayers which help us to do all of this regularly as a community. We draw strength from one another.
Habeeb Ahmed, president, Islamic Center of Long Island, Westbury:
It is important that we are careful to explain such a sensitive topic in an age-appropriate manner. It is said that God has love and compassion which is 70 times that of a mother. (How exactly do they measure that metric?) You can inform the child that their loved one has gone to a better place and is with God. The Quran states: "Truly! To God we belong, and truly, to Him we shall return." Muslims believe that the life of this world is temporary. They also believe that after the present life, life continues spiritually until your physical being is resurrected on the Day of Judgment. God tells us that everything He created is for an appointed term.
The Rev. Larry Dunlap, United Methodist Church, East Quogue, and Beach United Methodist Church, Westhampton Beach:
I have three sons, and when their grandparents died my wife, Kathy, and I explained death in terms that were age appropriate. That does not mean we used axioms such as Poppy has gone to sleep or Grandma has gone on a long trip. It is best not to hide death from the children because it is a part of life. Children need to be allowed to attend funerals so they can observe how people deal with grief. I like to tell children about water bugs and dragonflies. Water bugs start out swimming in the water. One day, they climb the lily stalk and discover that they're a dragonfly. No matter how much they try to return to tell their friends about the thrill of flying, they are no longer able to swim down to tell their friends. The same is true when a loved one dies. They have gone to another place and can't come back, but some day we will see them again when it's our turn to climb that lily stalk.
The Rev. Joseph Tucker, Joyful Heart Baptist Church, Hempstead:
I'd tell the child that, according to holy scripture, there are two places to go after death: heaven or hell. And that for his/ her mommy, daddy, loved one and all others of God's children believing in God, death is the doorway to going upward to Heaven to be like angels with wings to fly all over God's heaven in service to God. And, that God shuts the door to heaven to those who do not believe in God. The only place for those who don't believe in God is to go to hell, the place of the evil dragon and his demon dragons with tails that weigh them downward forever to the bottomless pit of hell where nonbelievers in the eternal good creator God will stay forever. And, because you believe in God also, after you die here on Earth, you will go through God's doorway to heaven also to join your loved ones with wings to live God's given gift of eternal life in heaven. (This one is my personal fave)
Bonnie Thompson, high priestess, 3rd Degree Alexandrian Wiccan, Hicksville:
Explaining death to a child is never an easy thing to do. Coming from a Wiccan perspective, it makes it a bit easier to tolerate. The cycle of life, death and rebirth is prominent in the Wiccan religion. When someone passes away, their spirit never dies. The physical body in which they dwell passes away, but inside of that body is an eternal spirit that lives forever. They go to a place we call "Summerland," which is what the Christian refers to as heaven. There they meet with other spirits of those family and friends that they love who also have crossed over. The person who died always will be with you in the spiritual form, as well as in your heart. Their spirit is still very much alive and is still with you, though you can't see them. They can hear you and see you and be with you. All you have to do is believe and know that they are always with you and that they haven't left you. One day they will reincarnate, which means their spirit will be born again. Families and close friends have deep spiritual bonds, and they stay together and reincarnate together. When they come back to this earth plane in which we live, they will come back to you again in another physical form. Their love and spirit will always be with you.
