In my college days, one evening I was sitting in a Christian Science Organization meeting, which is a group of college students and faculty, listening to a student tell how he got interested in and so excited about Christian Science.
He said that a girlfriend, who studied the religion, told him that death was an illusion. And she went on to explain that life is eternal, as Jesus Christ proved. No one ever dies. Yes, they leave mortal existence behind, but their life continues intact, and their individuality remains whole and complete in God’s likeness. There is never an end to life, she further elaborated, and so we should never fear it.
He loved what he heard, and was permanently hooked on the teachings.
I too have found great comfort in the teachings of Christian Science in regards to the illusion of death. It just doesn’t happen. Life goes on, and on and on…forever, just like Jesus Christ proved in his triumph over the grave. Death did not end his life, and we all have the same life he did—God!
Now, in the everyday human experience, people pass on every day. We collectively have much to learn about eternal life before we can demonstrate fully over the illusion of death and not have it seem to happen in the first place. But knowing the truth about eternal life eliminates much of the fear, and even surprise, that mortals often associate with death.
Death should not be a surprising event.
From a mortal point of view, death is credited as a reality. It happens, like the old saying, “There are two events you can’t avoid, death and taxes!” If one buys into a material premise that man is material and death happens, then he or she also accepts that accidents and misfortunes, including terminal disease, are the real and true too, and mortal belief lives out its convictions.
So, where is the surprise when death occurs to mortal belief? There is none. Any “surprise” is just its own ignorance of the premise and possibilities it had bought into all along and lived out.
And the way out of any “surprise” mortal mind entertains in times of untimely death lies in understanding the truth about life. It does not end. It is spiritual. It is eternal. It is forever. It is God. It is forever ours. And this truth, understood and practiced, serves to eliminate the beliefs and errors of mortal mind that lead to untimely deaths and unfortunate surprise in the first place.
“Life is eternal. We should find this out, and begin the demonstration thereof. Life and goodness are immortal. Let us then shape our views of existence into loveliness, freshness, and continuity, rather than into age and blight.”
~Mary Baker Eddy
How comforting this is, Evan. And so timely for me. I am in Montana on vacation, near where my deceased brother had a home which we are going to find today. He loved it here. He loved to fish and to be in God’s country. I was feeling a bit sad when I read your article. The sadness just lifted right off. My brother’s life is ongoing, thanks for the beautiful reminder!
Last year my mother passed away. When at the wake, I watched how people responded to death. They were afraid, skittish, nervous, and sad. I didn’t feel any sadness or longing for my mother. It was a very liberating feeling. She had healed me of a disease in which I couldn’t walk because my leg stopped growing when I was 5. They were even building a ramp for my wheelchair at kindergarten! Because of her spirituality, I could feel the Christ, which was both myself and herself. It was a very joyful feeling I had, even while sitting watching her in that coffin. I realized that the Christ wears the body as a robe or clothes, and I was just looking at the garment, not the Life. And as I watched people at the wake, this stark truth was what was making “mortal mind” so nervous. I realized also that all through her life, it was the Christ I loved AS her!