Dem Bones, Dem Bones...

At our church, the first Sunday of each month all children 6 years and older stay for the entire worship service. (The other Sundays of the month, the children stay half of adult worship, and then head to their own children's worship service...)
The Bug and the Pea bring paper and pencil to worship. They've watched me enough to know that when our pastor begins his message, it's serious Scripture-Findin'-Note-Takin' Time. They haven't quite perfected their own note-taking skills. At this point, they try in vain to transcribe each word our pastor utters. After the first few sentences, they are exhausted and switch to doodling. Which, honestly, is fine with me. Because I know they are absorbing the message, even if they don't realize it at the time.
This morning was no exception. In the spirit of All Saint's Day, the pastor was honoring those who have gone to heaven before us. He spoke of death, and the importance of speaking about death. The scripture reference was Lazarus rising from the dead. It's not a pretty verse. Lazarus's sisters warn Jesus not to enter the tomb, after all, the smell of the decomposing body is rancid. Jesus is outraged at death, he weeps. The sisters grieve, they're angry at Jesus' late arrival.
The Pea squirmed, pretended she was sleepy, and laid her head on my shoulder. Nevertheless, I knew she was taking in every word. Tonight, at tuck-in time, the questions poured forth.
"Mommy, what does it feel like to die?"
"Do you know anyone who has died?"
I answered to the best of my ability, which many times included, "Sweetie, I'm just not sure..."
"Why do they bury dead people?"
"Who decided to put bones underground?"
"Why would people want to turn into ashes?"
It was a bit of a ghoulish conversation. But after a week of preparing for Halloween, I'm sure ghosts and skeletons and graveyards were on her mind, anyway. I hope I appeared very "matter of fact," inviting further conversation on any topic - regardless of the nature.
I began to wonder how in the world my sweet child would drift off after such a deathly discussion. When all of a sudden she proclaimed, "You know Mommy, I have 6 boyfriends and I am going to marry..." and then fell asleep mid-sentence.
Certainly nothing I'm going to mention to the Husband...or he'll never get to sleep...