While traveling in Egypt, I saw many beautifully hand-painted papyrus paintings of a “tree of life.” I bought one of these paintings for its artistry, uniqueness, and striking colors. It shows five birds sitting on different branches of the tree, each bird representing a different stage of human life: infancy, childhood, youth, adulthood, and maturity. 

Recently, as I was thinking about the healing of grief I had some time ago after the passing of my mother, this painting came to mind because it represents what is generally believed to be the normal cycle of life starting with birth and ending in death. 

This concept of life as material and cyclical is in stark contrast to the one presented in the first chapter of the Bible, which depicts God as the creator of the universe, who created all, including man in His image. In this account of creation, since God is Spirit, His children have only a spiritual, eternal existence, without beginning or end. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science and author of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, explains: “Because man is the reflection of his Maker, he is not subject to birth, growth, maturity, decay. These mortal dreams are of human origin, not divine” (p. 305).