Editorial May 22, 1978 Issue

Understanding life and death

Nathan A. Talbot

Many people are fascinated with death. But they should, instead, be developing an appreciation of life. The reason for the fascination is that people think they understand life but know they don't understand death. The fact is that most people do not yet understand life. And until life is understood, death will continue to be a mystery.

As we begin to discover the nature of God, we find what life is really all about. God is Life itself. And Life maintains the intelligent continuity of perfection. Man is Life's representative. Man does not begin in birth. He does not end in death. He is the permanent expression, the spiritual idea, of divine Life.

Paul writes, "To be spiritually minded is life and peace." We are alive only in the measure that we are spiritually-minded. To the extent we are worldly or fleshly-minded, we are tasting death. "To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace"^{Rom. 8:6;} is Paul's full statement.