Article January 31, 2000 Issue

Afraid of losing someone dear?

Grief conquered

Helga Janesch

"I will not leave you comfortless" (John 14:18). An experience in my life proved to me that this Biblical promise is fulfilled today. As a child, I was often afraid of becoming an orphan, since I had lost my father very early in life and been separated from my mother during World War II. Later, when my mother rejoined us, she was often sick, so my grandmother took care of me. I remained very close to this grandmother because she was so supportive. Although I had learned in the Sunday School she took me to that Life (God) is eternal, I still had a hidden fear of losing her. Then, one day while I was working at my first job away from my hometown, I received a telephone call telling me that my grandmother was dying and that I should come home as soon as possible.

By the time I arrived, she was unable to communicate, so I decided to pray all night. I turned to the Bible and the Christian Science textbook for inspiration and felt uplifted. One sentence from Science and Health was especially helpful: "When advanced to spiritual being and the understanding of God, man can no longer commune with matter; neither can he return to it, any more than a tree can return to its seed. Neither will man seem to be corporeal, but he will be an individual consciousness, characterized by the divine Spirit as idea, not matter" (Mary Baker Eddy, p. 76).

I felt very comforted by the thought that our real being is not in a material body, but is an individual consciousness, a spiritual idea. To me this meant that life was, is, and always would be indestructible. The beginnings and endings of mortal man are misconceptions of our true being. Christ Jesus' resurrection and ascension proved that our real life continues on, despite what the physical senses report. I knew my grandmother's life was indestructible, no matter what I saw happen to a mortal body, so I knew there was no reason to be worried.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

Afraid of losing someone dear?

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access