Article February 25, 2019 Issue

Loving remembrance, free of grief

Joan Bernard Bradley

Originally published in The Christian Science Monitor’s Christian Science Perspective column, Nov. 8, 2018, under the title, “Remembrance without grief.”

One Saturday, a relative brought me some urgent news—my younger sister had unexpectedly passed away. It was a shock to hear this.

That day, I was in my neighborhood Christian Science Reading Room, which I’d found to be a spiritual refuge since first learning about Christian Science some years before. I’d spent many hours there being fed spiritually, using its vast selection of spiritual resource materials to aid me in my Bible study. One verse had recently leapt off the page at me: “Pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17). Right then, I’d made a private commitment to strive to do that to the best of my ability.

When I heard about my sister, whom I loved dearly, I found hope in this idea of praying without ceasing—of “hold[ing] fast that which is good” (I Thessalonians 5:21), actively acknowledging God’s ever-present goodness. Turning wholeheartedly to God, who is infinite Love, I affirmed in my prayers that divine Love was the source of my strength and would show me how to respond appropriately to the events to come. I also leaned on this verse from the Bible: “It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect” (Psalms 18:32).

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