When a friend of mine passed on suddenly, my feelings of loss and the questions arising from the suddenness of his passing caused me to think deeply about a statement by Mary Baker Eddy: "As soldiers of the cross we must be brave, and let Science declare the immortal status of man, and deny the evidence of the material senses, which testify that man dies."Unity of Good, p. 39.
It occurred to me that even as Jesus was being crucified, he must have been affirming in prayer his immortal status as the Son of God, as God's perfect and eternal likeness. Jesus set the example for all of us to follow. His ability to cure diseases and his own resurrection teach us that the picture of life we see with the material sense is not conclusive. His compassionate healing works inspire us to affirm with conviction the reality of God, who is Spirit, and of each individual as His spiritual reflection, the immediate object of God's eternal love.
We each have, from God, the spiritual sense to understand that we have always existed as God's expression. Death is not anyone's final state. We can overcome the tendency to define ourselves and others as beginning in matter, formed by it, living in it, and dying out of it. Each one's life is in and of Spirit; it is not interrupted, nor does it end with death. We can feel the joy of Spirit even when we lose someone close to us.
