"They are in a better place," is almost always the wrong thing to say to a grieving family.

But it may be just the thing to say to a Pastor, Care Pastor, a hospice nurse, a funeral director, a doctor, a nurse, a paramedic...

One Holy Week I was invited to do two funerals and was closely connected to three patients in the care of Hospice.

This past Good Friday I heard my wife say, "Good-bye Daddy," as the mortuary received him into their care. She was a Daddy's Girl. She know's he is in a better place, but her emotions are tender.

A young couple I know, is thankful for the events of Easter weekend as their baby's suffering ended in death, also on Good Friday. They must be exhausted from the trauma of his illness and the many surgeries. I can't imagine their emotions from seeing all the medical efforts fail to rescue their little guy.

Often the darkness of the Saturday between the brutality of the Crucifixion and the brightness and hope of the Resurrection is more like a season in life, than a day between those defining events. In that season life has changed. It is painful and it is dark. It must have been a terrible day for the disciples and followers of Jesus that first Holy weekend.

When you care for people and are available in their time of need, a schedule that is frequently filled with sickness, tragedy and death is emotionally heavy.

To be able to care from a hopeful heart with a faith that transcends everything that it seen and felt, can help you endure while you patiently are present in someone's dark Saturday.  This is valuable in all cases, but especially end-of-life, death and through the grieving process.

"Easter reminds us that your work is going to be undone," were my words to a colleague who planned funerals for a large church. Responding to her puzzled expression I explained, "I don't mean the support you give families during their time of loss is of no value. It is valuable beyond measure. But, because of the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus, we can believe in life after death and even the resurrection of the dead (I Corinthians 15). All those graves are going to be open some day. What we see now is not the end of the story."

Even if you can't say at that moment, "They are in a better place the grieving person can find hope in believing that there is a better place and "everlasting life" (John 3:16) is for real. Your enduring presence will bring comfort until they experience the hope that only Easter provides. 

Easter is definitely an encouraging time for those of us who regularly face the temporal state of our life on Earth. It encouraged me as I was at my father-in-laws bedside last week and live with my wife as she misses her Daddy.

I hope it blesses you too. What you do matters.