When my husband of five months passed on suddenly in my arms while we were away on a business trip, the sense of shock and grief made me question whether or not I could or even wanted to survive this tragedy. The grief seemed compounded by the thought that all the good this marriage had represented was nullified and reversed by my husband’s passing. We had been in the midst of packing for a cross-country move, and I faced returning to the job where my husband and I had first met. Thoughts of injustice plagued me. It seemed too much to bear.
Some years earlier, a neighbor had introduced me to the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. The author, Mary Baker Eddy, describes this volume as containing “the complete Science of Mind-healing” (p. 147). As I studied the ideas in Science and Health, healing resulted, including the reversal of what had been a crippling childhood disease (see podcast from October 29, 2000). As my understanding of this Science and its laws expanded, so did my confidence in God’s unfailing love.
After my husband’s passing, the phrase “earth’s preparatory school” came to thought (Science and Health, p. 486). The concept that these three words pointed to, served to weaken the grasp of grief and injustice. I was reminded that this earthly experience was not about achieving perfect human circumstances, but rather it was the “school” in which I was learning about my unbroken relationship to God.
