Testimony of Healing November 19, 2018 Issue

A clearer understanding of eternal life gained

Jay Thatcher

Just after my high school graduation, my mom passed away, and I felt lost. My rock was no longer there for me. And as expected, the dynamics of our family changed. The question I kept asking was, Why would God allow this? Our family’s pastor answered that it was God’s will. But this answer seemed completely disconnected from what I had learned in Sunday School, that “God is love” (I John 4:8), and I couldn’t believe my mom’s passing was His will. I left for college without an answer to my question and feeling sad, angry, and alone.

Eight years later I was living and working in a remote part of the United States. Early one evening I was walking by myself in our housing complex’s garden. From behind me, I heard my mom’s voice speaking clearly to me, saying, “Jay, I am OK.” Although I knew she was no longer physically present, I had to look. Of course, when I turned around, there was no one there, but her voice had certainly seemed to be.

By then I was studying Christian Science, and had learned that, indeed, my mom’s passing was not God’s will, and that God is all-loving and compassionate. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes on page 206 in her seminal work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “God does not cause man to sin, to be sick, or to die.” My mom’s passing had nothing to do with God’s plan or purpose for her, which could be nothing but good and loving, since He is good and is Love itself. As the author of First John tells us, “He [God] first loved us” (4:19). After hearing my mom’s voice, I knew there was no more suffering, and my sorrow disappeared. But I couldn’t explain the whole voice thing. What was that?