When my beloved mom, Kelly, passed away suddenly, I was grief-stricken. During the time I was caring for her, I expected that she would continue to be with us for many more years. I couldn’t comprehend being without her. 

I began to pray, and realized I had been accepting a material, limited view that her life was in a body. But as a student of Christian Science, I knew that this view was not the reality of my mom as the reflection of Spirit, God. These questions came to mind: “Do I choose to see my mom as material, with a beginning at birth and an ending at death, and separate from God? Or do I choose to see her as spiritual and immortal, with no beginning and no end, with her life safe and secure in God?” As I struggled with grief, I began to turn away from the false belief that life is in matter and to claim what is true—that my mom is made in God’s image and likeness and that she continues forever, joyous and whole in His loving care. 

Months later, I was awakened in the middle of the night by a very clear thought: “It’s the wilderness, Kristin.” I immediately opened Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures to read the definition of wilderness in its Glossary: “Loneliness; doubt; darkness. Spontaneity of thought and idea; the vestibule in which a material sense of things disappears, and spiritual sense unfolds the great facts of existence” (Mary Baker Eddy, p. 597).