You didn't mention a specific interaction situation so I gave a generalized answer. I think it would be helpful to expand your question. — Alex Cannon 2 mins ago

this whole answer is just "your religion is wrong" without knowing the person's religion. It contains nothing about how to meet someone which is the (overly broad and unspecified) question that was asked. — Kate Gregory 6 secs ago

@KateGregory Yes this is true as far as my answer being valid for other users of this site, which is the actual purpose of this forum. But I believe my answer is quite relevant and valid as a response to this specific person who is asking, and others with this specific conflict situation. The problem is really in the question, being very vague and having conflicting requirements. The bulk of my answer is about how they cannot obtain what they expect. Once that issue is settled, the rest is fairly simple, and I didn't think it really needed to be explained. — Alex Cannon 2 mins ago

Rather than it being that my answer is about their religion being wrong, I think it would be better to say that my answer is mostly about their question being a demand for something that cannot be achieved, which is to meet someone, but at the same time, have it be God's leading, which in most cases means that you're not allowed to meet others because it might interfere with God's leading. I can extend my answer when the OP decides to share more details. — Alex Cannon 2 mins ago

Assuming this involves Christianity, maybe this should be reposted on the Christianity stack exchange. However, the basic situation, which is how can I meet someone, but at the same time tell them that I'm not supposed to meet anyone because it could interfere with God's leading, would belong here as far as I know. — Alex Cannon 1 min ago

"The problem is really in the question, being very vague and having conflicting requirements": it's all said... So my question is: why answer too broad a question, with no clear goal, lacking details, and not really involving interpersonal skills as per IPS requirements? And, second point (but not a question, just an opinion), no, it won't help other readers, as this is a non-answer to a non-question, so it's not what this stack expects :/ — OldPadawan 1 min ago

Hi there, and welcome! Answers on this stack should not be just a suggestion or thoughts, but they should explain why and how the suggested approach would work. How could this approach help OP achieve their goal? We expect answers to be backed up with either personal experience or literature citations, as described here and How to Answer. Feel free to reach us if you have any questions :) — OldPadawan 2 mins ago

There's a lot of info that would be helpful. A location tag would help understand the culture - different cultures respond differently to death. Are you close? Different cultures also have power differentials between student/professor. I suspect this will be closed as a phrasing request so I'd also suggest defining a course of action and then getting help on that. — baldPrussian 26 secs ago

Thank you @baldPrussian. I edited my question. I also added a location tag and removed the email tag. I'm new to this site so if I need to edit further, please let me know! — Scruffy 2 mins ago

Hi Scruffy. I've too made a pretty heavy edit in order to remove the "should I" parts. Like @baldPrussian mentioned, it could still be closed as off-topic anyway, I don't know if my best will be enough and save this post :) Please feel free to edit again or rollback. — OldPadawan 1 min ago

Thank you @OldPadawan! Your edit expresses what I'm asking very well. — Scruffy 15 secs ago

Oops! I just overrode that edit. Because I think this can be better as a question of etiquette, since the expected behavior around these things is pretty well formalized into unwritten rules by society. Also, this removes the 'what should I say' aspect from the question, and focuses more on the 'what action would be appropriate'. — Tinkeringbell ♦ 2 mins ago

@Tinkeringbell, due to COVID, we've been virtual all year. As I started grad school at the beginning of this year, most of our communication has been via email, with some interaction over the phone, as well as Zoom and the like. He communicated this to me over email. Either way, I would be contacting him via his 'work' mail/number. I think that a call by nature would allow me to get a bit more personal, but that may be unwanted at this time. If I email him, I would probably express a similar message, but it would be easier for him to ignore if he wishes to do so now. — Scruffy 58 secs ago

So, if you really hate it though, feel free to roll back. If you though, I would advise you pick at least some things you'd like to say to him, write down why you think those might be uncomfortably personal, just to keep out the what to say a bit more (Sorry it took so long, had something interrupt the writing of this comment, it goes with the previous one) — Tinkeringbell ♦ 2 mins ago

Thank you for your thoughtful response! I like the idea of a sympathy card as well. — Scruffy 2 mins ago