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Find a rock when the harsh winds blow

Even when it seems a life has ended, our unity with the Life that is God stands eternal, and can never be lost. This is a powerful foundation for healing grief, as a woman experienced after losing her dad.

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Andrey Trifonov/500px/Getty Images
  • By Catherine De Jocas

Christian Science Perspective audio edition
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It’s the call you never want to get. It was my mom telling me that my dad had just passed away. I hung up the phone and quietly turned to God, asking Him what I needed to know at that moment.

“I was not born into matter, and I do not die out of matter,” came the reply.

That was just what I needed. That message hints at how life is really spiritual and eternal.

I was grateful that it was Wednesday, so that I could attend a healing Christian Science service that evening. One of the scriptural selections that was shared at that gathering was this one from the book of Matthew: “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” (19:16). The seeker in this biblical account was reaching out for a more permanent sense of life. Perhaps, like me, he had been shaken by events that suggested the fragility of life.

Jesus’ response pointed to the spiritual essence of life in God, who is the only Life, the only good, there truly is. Jesus was showing the man that the benefits of eternal Life are something we can experience now, not just hereafter. Our unity with Life, God, is eternal.

The writings of Mary Baker Eddy – who discovered and founded Christian Science, based on Jesus’ teachings – have had a comforting, healing influence on the brokenhearted. The ideas they convey awaken us today to the reassuring spiritual fact that Life is indeed without a beginning or an ending.

These ideas helped me realize that my dad enjoyed a lengthy, vibrant, and progressive earthly experience, reflecting the continuous activity of God – and that he will continue to reflect that divine activity.

Whether we are staring down the belief of our own mortality or mourning someone dear to us, Life divine stands eternally, never wavering. And this is the ageless Rock that grounds us when the harsh winds blow.

Adapted from the March 1, 2022, Christian Science Daily Lift podcast.

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