Article January 16, 1937 Issue

"God shall wipe away all tears"

EVELYN WEBB SUMNER

No phase of human suffering calls for the healing power of divine Love more than does the grief which results from the apparent loss of dear ones. This is a universal cry in the heart of humanity, a cry so intense that it sometimes leads those in search of comfort into paths of error in the endeavor to understand that which is incomprehensible apart from the revelation of divine Science. Indeed, many Christian people have sought solace in the erroneous doctrine that God has bereaved them, and that therefore they must bow to His will with the thought that He knows best. And so our loving God is ignorantly held responsible for the tragedies of human experience, even though it is clear from the life and teaching of Christ Jesus that death is no part of the divine plan.

Someone may say, If only I could be allowed to have just a glimpse of my dear one and see for myself that he is still living and happy, then I would be content to wait until such time as we may meet again. Where does this longing come from? From personal sense! Has personal sense ever given us a true picture of anyone? Longing such as this claims as true the lie of separation. It claims that man is mortal, that he has beginning and ending, that his vision is so limited that he can lose sight of someone he loves. Until this personal longing is exchanged for the longing to know God, it does not reach out for the healing power of ever-present divine Love, so tenderly waiting to meet the human need.

Our Leader tells us comparatively little about what we term "the hereafter." And yet, with what tender compassion for the human cry she gives us enough to assure us concerning those who have passed on, by showing us that they continue to work out their salvation! She comforts us with the assurance that "in Science, individual good derived from God, the infinite All-in-all, may flow from the departed to mortals" (Science and Health, p. 72). And then she gently turns us away from the contemplation of mortals to the healing truth of God's all-presence, and the inseparable oneness of God and His idea, subject neither to birth, death, nor limits of time. Endeavoring to peer into a future existence does not heal. The assurance that our loved ones are still living and that death has not touched them, comforts, but does not fully heal. Absolute truth is needed to heal; and the sooner the individual turns resolutely to infinite Truth for healing, the sooner will the sense of mourning be lost in the tender, all-powerful Love which wipes away all tears.

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"Time no longer"
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