Shocking news has always had a way of spreading, even before the printing press was invented. But mass communication brings the most graphic details right into our homes, and it's hard not to feel like one of the families involved in a fire, plane crash, or terrorist attack. Or like a fellow student in the latest school shooting.

So many people are trying so hard to understand. Where is God? Are victims somehow less worthy in God's eyes? When a falling tower killed 18 people long ago, Jesus said this absolutely was not God's will (see Luke 13:1–5). Jesus taught, and his whole life illustrated, that God's purpose for His children includes being blessed and saved, redeemed and healed.

So how do we deal with tragedies that flare up so persistently? It is natural, especially if a disaster has struck close to home, for friends to comfort us with reassuring words. The passage of time may make some difference. But there is much more that can be done.

This "much more" brings peace and comfort, and grows out of a person's relationship with God. Even if you haven't felt close to God in the past, you can make a new beginning. Let God talk to you. Let God show Himself to you. Let divine Love strengthen you by reassuring you that life has not been lost. Such a thought may seem almost too foreign in the middle of tragedy. And yet, throughout history, people have discovered that it's worth the effort.

Today, some physicists are calling into question what most people have always considered bedrock reality. New views, like the "string" theory, assume that we will simply have to give up the conclusion that we exist in the context of time and space. Yes ... we all finally may have to admit that there is something beyond time and space!

If a physicist can make that kind of mental leap, why can't we let God reveal to us the unending nature of Life. The Bible speaks of God and then reassures us, "For he is thy life, and the length of thy days" (Deut. 30:20). Truly, God is Life itself, and when He reveals Himself to you, He is revealing that Life is your reality.

God is infinite. When this infinite, ever-present, omnipotent God, who is perfect Life, reveals Himself, you begin to know in your heart that surely Life is not lost.

No human being can adequately convince you of this truth. No intellectual reasoning or logic can fully persuade you. Not in the face of tragedy. But when you open your heart to God, invite His nature into your consciousness, you can receive God's message that life is not lost. God holds all being within His love. He perpetuates and forever shelters every individual. There are no exceptions.

While Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of this magazine, compassionately reached out to those who suffered loss, she preserved an inner conviction that Christ Jesus' teachings were rooted in truth and that he was revealing life's eternal nature. At the announcement that Pope Leo XIII had died in 1903, she wrote, "I sympathize with those who mourn, but rejoice in knowing our dear God comforts such with the blessed assurance that life is not lost; its influence remains in the minds of men, and divine Love holds its substance safe in the certainty of immortality" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 295).

As you feel this message that life has not been lost taking hold in your heart, it may be time to consider another step that can deepen your feeling of being comforted. Often we help ourselves most when we're willing to help others even a little. You can actually play a role in aiding society's effort to break free of so much heartache.

Referring to "tragic events and sudden deaths" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 48), Mrs. Eddy said that unseen and unknown mental influences can sometimes wreak havoc, while a spiritual state of thought actually protects people from such influences. This involves understanding how real consciousness is the awareness of God, the one divine Life or Mind. God's reality is filled with good and entirely free of the kind of mental forces that would be disruptive, harmful, or even fatal.

The Bible uses the term carnal mind to identify a sense of existence that feels vulnerable and susceptible to tragic events. But a divine view of reality emerges over and over in the Bible. St. Paul knew well the carnal mind, with all of its evils. Yet he also knew the authentic divine reality of God, and he told people to recognize it. He said, "We have the mind of Christ" (I Cor. 2:16).

We can have the courage to challenge the carnal mind at least a little. We can begin by accepting more of our own true and pure spiritually-minded nature. This will make a difference.

Christ Jesus saw existence as infinitely good. In fact, Jesus' consciousness was so in harmony with what God knew that tragic events literally gave way to the divine, authentic reality.

Look what a difference there is between spiritual-mindedness and carnal-mindedness on the question of life and death. Jesus was spiritually-minded. This enabled him to raise Lazarus from the grave (see John 11—12:1–11). Jesus' view of God as undying Life—expressed uninterruptedly by each one of us without exception—prevailed over everyone else's view that death was real.

There were other people who lacked any of the spiritual insight that Jesus had. Their perspective could hardly bear to see Lazarus brought to life, and it led them to harbor thoughts of murdering Lazarus.

These two contrasting states of thought may well tell us something important about dealing with today's tragic deaths. As we begin to see the nature of existence more as Jesus saw it, awful incidents will happen less frequently. A view of existence where one person can adversely affect another will begin giving way to a view of God as the one and only Mind. And of each individual as expressive of divine consciousness. It is possible to relate our lives to the divine view, and to feel less helpless, more comforted.

There are many ways to help society progress beyond its troubles. To deal squarely with the inclination to kill, to hate, to commit any evil act, requires dealing with the mentality that fosters such inclination. When we make an honest effort to live as Jesus did, to express such Christly qualities as purity and goodness, this has a disarming effect on human misery.

While it may seem that the link between a carnally-minded view of reality on the one hand, and death on the other, is a stretch, Paul saw it clearly. He insisted, "To be carnally minded is death." Yet he went on to say, "but to be spiritually minded is life and peace" (Rom. 8:6).

Every effort we make toward understanding our relationship with our creator adds weight to society's ability to confront and even lessen tragic and senseless deaths. These deaths can be attributed, at least in part, to carnal-mindedness that is nurtured by a loss of understanding the difference between right and wrong.

Many people want to comfort those who have been touched by random tragedy and long to blunt such misery. The Christ is here to answer that need. It gently encourages us to acknowledge God's enduring love and care for every individual. It assures us that life is God's will, His reality. It awakens in us spiritual truths that others begin to feel, including the comforting reassurance that real life is never lost.