Editorial June 25, 1984 Issue

"Drear subtlety" or double portion?

ALLISON W. PHINNEY, JR.

Many people today are talking more openly about the tougher questions of human existence. One of those more difficult questions may be what to think when a truly good and spiritually illumined person unexpectedly passes on. Perhaps one's first impulse is to feel the very heavens should open and weep at the magnitude of the human loss.

I remember one instance when that was my feeling. But I also recall that, as I reached out to God for help, this initial feeling was soon followed by a flood of spiritual inspiration and conviction—so much so that grief was irresistibly taken away. It was simply no longer there; it had been replaced by a recognition of the definite presence of spiritual light and truth. And in this strong sense of spiritual order, there could be no doubt that God maintains the life and individuality of man, regardless of the appearance of death. It was obvious, in fact, that to hold on to the emotions one had first felt would have been to insist on gripping something less worthy and less real than what was being freely given by Spirit, God.

There is healing at hand if we're willing to admit what is already present and answering our prayer. The Master, Christ Jesus, said to his disciples: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."^{John 14:27.} This same Christ, Truth, or spirit of Life, lifts us, if we'll let it, into the undeniable perception of spiritual reality, the order and presence of the kingdom of God here with us.