A Comforting Phrase

Until this weekend, the term “Rest in Peace” never meant so much to me. In reading the inscription on gravestones, the abbreviated version seemed even harder to understand – I’d just read it as “rip,” which conjured up images of torn cloth and dismembered limbs. It felt all wrong to me.

But in learning of my great-uncle’s passing, someone said those words and for the first time they knocked the wind right out of me. I sighed and crumpled over as I finally understood what they meant to me. For a man who had so much trouble sleeping – and eating, and breathing, for that matter – it was so relieving to know that he would finally be comfortable.

We are not a religious family, and we instinctively cringe when people say things like “We are praying for you!” and “May God have mercy!” Phrases like this assume so much. “Rest in Peace,” on the other hand, is not a religious sentiment. It doesn’t mention the great beyond, nor the great nothingness, but instead emphasizes that the person’s demise brings them a level of comfort they couldn’t have here. It acknowledges a basic human desire – of finding rest when exhausted – that I think everyone can understand.

REST IN PEACE