Upfront October 8, 2012 Issue

'Life needs you'

Jeff Ward-Bailey, Staff Editor

“Dark thoughts aren’t your thoughts, and they can’t separate you from God.”

If I had to sum up the message of this issue’s cover section, that’s what I’d say. Thoughts of suicide can seem so reasonable—but they’re always a counterfeit, never our own thinking. Maybe you’ve struggled with these thoughts yourself, or know someone who has talked about committing suicide, or are simply interested in praying about the issue. In any case, it’s so comforting to recognize that God made each of us to express qualities like life, vitality, and peace. Michael Pabst puts it simply in this week’s cover story: “Life [a synonym for God] needs you. ... That’s what gives you existence. It’s your effortless being, your natural identity, to manifest Life’s love” (p. 4).

In this issue you’ll find lots of inspiring examples of how God, divine Life, animates and sustains us. In “Stopping the cycle of fear,” Doug Brown shares a priceless moment when lingering fear was healed: “With just … four simple words … the anguish was transformed to a sense of joy, completeness, and wholeness. I was satisfied; I had come home” (p. 12). You’ll also want to read “Student debts: a spiritual solution” (p. 14), an article by Edward Little, that is as relevant and helpful today as when it was first published in 1979.

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