Why do we use flowers at a funeral?

My 3 year old grandson asked me why we put flowers on a grave. I have no idea - is it to do with "renewal"? Any deep thinkers out there who can answer q for me, i really need to get back to the little man! I realise not all countries/faiths follow this tradition, but for those that do perhaps someone out there knows why flowers in particular?

Why do we use flowers at a funeral?
Today, flowers are sent to funerals for a number of reasons. First, they are a means of expression. It is often difficult for those mourning a death to put feelings into words. Flowers are a visual expression of love, sympathy and respect. They are a means of sharing the burden of grief, and they represent community support for the bereaved.





Flowers create a background of warmth and beauty, which adds to the dignity and consolation of the funeral service. Following the service, the bereaved are left with an indelible impression, or “memory picture” of the funeral. The more comforting the memory picture, the more easily it is recalled by the bereaved and the more vivid is the reinforcement of the reality of loss. Flowers do not wither and die in the mind of the bereaved; they are recalled time and again as indelible memories. Conversely, those who have attended service where there were no flowers, have expressed the feeling that something was missing, that the funeral was depressing.





Flowers also have a spiritual significance. They are symbolic not only of love and sympathy, but also of eternity and immortality. The fleeting life of flowers attests to the transitory life of man. There is profound symbolism in the very fact that flowers do not last forever.





Finally, flowers are not only for the living. They are also for the dead. Americans traditionally have expressed their respect for the deceased by sending flowers, which honours the dead and console the living.
Reply:It is for commercial purposes. Someone needs to make money, so why not target the depress souls (easy target). Really, there's no point in placing expensive flowers week after week when our dead love ones are no longer exist anymore. The only hope to see them again is at resurrection. --John 5:28-29.





(Ecclesiastes 9:5-6) "For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore have wages, because the remembrance of them has been forgotten. 6 Also, their love and their hate and their jealousy have already perished, and they have no portion anymore to time indefinite in anything that has to be done under the sun."
Reply:in the old days and for the poor there was no way of keeping the body's from rotting, so they used flowers to hide the smell.


to have some one lade to rest you had to pay for the grave and you had to pay the grave diggers, so for poor people they might have to wait 3-4 weeks to save up the money
Reply:Because funerals are for the living, and flowers brighten up an otherwise dark occasion.
Reply:before embalming it was because dead bodies smell bad after that the tradition just stuck
Reply:I suppose it brings a touch beauty to a sad affair.
Reply:good question! maybe to cheer up a sad situation when visiting a dead loved one. i rather think of them in my mind when they were happy : )
Reply:Thats a good question, I really dont know the answer!


Sorry.


Have a star (:





♥
Reply:to decorate the place for a celebration of the persons life..
Reply:To cover the smell of rotting flesh .
Reply:tribute, mark of respect. why do people give flowers for anything? same stuff. different dead person.
Reply:WOW!!! YOU GRANDSON IS A LITTLE GENIUS!! HAHA I DONT KNOW EITHER :(
Reply:They are a sympathy gift..