Article January 29, 2018 Issue

What comforts one and all

Martin Vesely

Many are yearning to feel the lasting peace and joy that a sense of God’s loving ever-presence can give. When we hear of deaths and other tragedies, it is natural to want to reach out and comfort those who are suffering or experiencing loss.

I recall a time as a young man (a preteen) when I had the desire to be of comfort but struggled to find the appropriate words. I was attending a funeral service with my parents, as a close friend of my mother’s had passed on. A line was formed in the chapel so everyone could express their condolences to the family members. I remember thinking, “What could I possibly say that would help to relieve their sorrow and pain?” I was at a total loss. Truly, a feeling that I would long remember and never wanted to have again. I turned to my mother for guidance. She instructed me to say, “Please accept my sympathies.” This I did, but I was left with an empty feeling of not having provided much comfort to those grieving.

Today, because of my study of Christian Science, I see things more clearly than I did those many years ago. For one, I have learned that when we turn thought wholeheartedly to God and humbly listen for divine guidance, we are able to say and do what is most helpful to those in need. Moreover, the ability to truly comfort comes from feeling God’s love ourselves, from knowing God as Life, the only Life any of us have, and from understanding that this Life is eternal.

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