Comfort in grief

Leslee Godfrey Allen

Dear Friend,

My deepest love goes out to you right now, I know all that you and your loved one shared together will continue to bless you. When my dad passed suddenly a few years ago, I had some inspiration that I'd like to share with you, since it was such a tremendous support to me.

For a time there seemed to be an empty spot that needed filling. One sleepless night I went to the living room and reached out to God wholeheartedly for peace and assurance. No thoughts came for a while, just a deep yearning. Finally my thought cleared and this inspiration came: "...Love supports the struggling heart until it ceases to sigh over the world and begins to unfold its wings for heaven" (Science and Health, p. 57). I wrote it down and left it in the kitchen for the rest of the family, and then went to sleep peacefully.

To feel that Love, God, was supporting me, my dad, my whole family, was a tremendous release from the burden of trying to lift myself and others from sorrow. Although I had some challenges in the weeks and months to come, I felt that I had a very close, powerful support in meeting them. Instead of feeling that an era had passed, that my relationship with Dad was in the past, I was buoyed by the words from a hymn written by Mary Baker Eddy, referring to the "one endless day."

Mourner, it calls you,—"Come to my bosom,
Love wipes your tears all away, And will lift the shade of gloom, And for you make radiant room Midst the glories of one endless day."

(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 298)

Awakening to the fact that death couldn't separate any of us from God's "endless day" gave me assurance that all that I loved about my relationship with my dad was still going on to bless me. Just as a sunbeam can never be separated from the sun, none of us can ever truly be separated from God, who is our Life. This means that we are not alone, but all one—united in our common Life, God. Realizing this made it easier to share and talk about happy experiences we'd had as a family, even humorous situations, and to think about Dad often, without a feeling of loss.

To feel that Love, God, was supporting me brought a tremendous release from sorrow.

Realizing that we are all one in God's endless day also puts important occasions in their right perspective. Family gatherings, Christmas, Father's Day, weddings, trips—occasions when I've been tempted to feel the loss of Dad's presence—have been uplifted when I've remembered that all our good stems from God's love for us, not from time or times together. As a hymn says:

For all of good the past hath had
Remains to make our own time glad....

Henceforth my heart shall sigh no more
For olden time and holier shore:
God's love and blessing, then and there,
Are now and here and everywhere.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 238)

Sometimes sorrow would seem legitimate because of the argument that it wasn't right that a person passed on at a time when there was so much for him or her to contribute. But the belief of lost opportunity is only a facet of the whole belief that good or life can come to an end. Opportunity is always part of man's life, and he must be taking advantage of Life's opportunity right now.

A street scene often looks chaotic from the bottom floor of a skyscraper, with cars and people rushing around, but we can see order as we climb to the top floor and look out from a higher perspective. Then we see the layout of the city, and the harmony and direction going on. Even so, when our view of life seems unclear and chaotic, we need to turn to a higher perspective—God's—and look out from our oneness with Him.

Love will continue to support you in all ways, to give you strength for each day.

PHILIPPIANS

My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. ... The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Philippians 4:19, 23

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