I want to go and put some flowers on my grandma's grave. She died 9 years ago Feb 19. I haven't been out there since the funeral. I can't remember where the cemetary is, and I will have to ask my JW relatives (who don't know my status) where she is buried. Just wondering if that is a no-no. I'll do it anyway, I just want to know. It seems like almost anything that is remotely normal is forbidden in JWland.
Is it acceptable for JWs to put flowers on a loved one's grave?
by serenitynow! 26 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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ThomasCovenant
A good question. I would assume (in other words I don't know) it is looked down on.
I remember hearing of a brother dying of cancer in my local congregation whilst relatively still young. There was some concern and chatter that his young widow was known to be attending the gravesite and was overheard talking out loud.
One 'stalwart' sister, as she likes to call herself, said to me '' we all grieve but come on, she needs to pull herself together''.
Such love.
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Broken Promises
I think it's one of those "conscience" issue things.
I've never known it to be a problem with anyone.
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Larsinger58
I don't know for sure about flowers, but pyramids are certainly acceptable if you can afford one.
LS
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garyneal
The August 2000 Awake article "A Balanced View of Popular Customs" seem to suggest that it is okay. But it does not specifically address placing flowers on a person's grave. Only giving them to bereaving loved ones.
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ProdigalSon
Are they pagan flowers?
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Heaven
As a child I was told putting flowers on the grave was worshipping the dead and that Jehovah doesn't approve of that.
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blondie
*** w98 7/15 p. 23 A Christian View of Funeral Customs ***Some may see no harm in throwing flowers or a handful of soil into a grave. A Christian, however, would avoid this practice if the community views it as a way of appeasing the dead or if it is part of a ceremony presided over by a minister of false religion.—See Awake! of March 22, 1977, page 15.
*** w87 11/15 p. 27 Answering the Call of the Micronesian Islands ***Many, too, are the superstitious beliefs. In the Marshall Islands, for example, when someone dies the family will put food, cigarettes, and flowers on the grave for the deceased. Or when a bird flies around the house singing, this is taken to mean danger and imminent death for someone in the family.
*** w70 9/15 p. 576 Questions From Readers ***Often flowers sent to the funeral are later deposited upon the grave. But here, some may choose to do something else with these flowers. They may choose to give them to others, take them to those who rarely get flowers, to sick persons or to the elderly. A person may feel that the living will appreciate the flowers, but that they serve little purpose at the gravesite, since the deceased cannot appreciate them.—Eccl. 9:5.
Of course, others may choose to lay flowers on a grave simply to beautify the site, and not to give honor to the dead. This too is a matter for personal decision.
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Broken Promises
Do you know which cemetry she's at?
Even if you don't know where in the cemetry she is, you can ask at the office of the cemetry for the location.
That way your JW rellies don't have to know you're going there.
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Orha
I dont often post here, and only pop back here now and again to see whats new in dub-land, but I visited my 'never-a-jw' nans grave yesterday with my jw parents. We dont usually do this, its always me that instigates the visit... but we agreed on buying flowers to leave at the grave, we all turned up, but turns out my parents didnt bring any flowers.
I got wondering if they had did a little research beforehand and perhaps they figured it was pagan or something.
What a superstitious religion!