Q: What can I do when I feel like everything’s falling apart?
A: Just before I graduated from high school, my mom passed away. My sadness was still deep that fall when I went away to college. But I clung to a Bible promise I’d learned in the Christian Science Sunday School: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalms 46:1). At first those were just words to me. But as I hung on to them, I began to see how God really does help us. I realized that because God is both All and our Father-Mother, we can never be outside of God’s fathering, mothering love. This was reassuring, since I was really missing the loving care my mom had provided, and I soon found that this trust in God was practical as well.
I began to notice that whenever I needed “mothering”—comfort, counsel, guidance, encouragement—it was always there for me in some way. Sometimes in those moments, I just knew what Mom would say. One time words from a total stranger were exactly what I needed. Often I’d simply feel a mental hug or a prod (whichever was needed) straight from God. Since then, I’ve never been without a conscious sense of Love’s mothering. And when a friend’s mom passed away not long after, I was ready and able to help her with what I’d learned.
