The End of “RIP”

I see it all over Facebook and Twitter each time someone famous dies. In recent weeks two well-known Christian authors passed away (Brennan Manning and Dallas Willard) and I saw countless comments using the phrase. I hear it after someone at church passes. I heard it many, many times after my grandpa passed away: “May he rest in peace.”

RIP. Rest in peace.

It’s a common cultural thing to say “rest in peace” to the dead as a way of saying goodbye. I honestly don’t even think we know what it mean...