Our Father …
— Matthew 6:9
… in the midst of the greatest trial, death, or any human suffering,
something rises from within and says with Job: “Though I die, yet shall I live.”
— The Science of Mind, page 108
We Are One
There is a story from ancient China about a woman who lost her only son through the portals of death. She felt certain that she too would perish from grief. The desire to eat left her; the ability to sleep eluded her. She sat and stared and rocked for many months until she became a gray woman, merely existing, not living.
After a while a neighbor took pity on her and suggested she visit the wise man of the village. He took one look at her and asked, “Do you wish from your sorrow to be freed?” She nodded. “Then go my dear friend from house to house and find a home that has encountered no death. She looked at him. He continued, “And from that house bring me a mustard seed.”
The woman set out, determined to complete her assignment successfully. For two years she knocked upon door after door of her town and the surrounding villages. At each door she was greeted with a smile of compassion, a warm embrace and the statement, “My good woman, our family is well acquainted with death … for is not life entwined with changes?” Finally, another neighbor told her “My dear friend, there is no family that knows no death.”
As she trudged back to the wise man, there was a new gleam in her eye. “Well,” he queried, “have you brought back the seed?”
She shook her head “I’ve brought another seed in here.” Then she smote her hand upon her chest. “Now I know … from others I am not apart … I’m not alone … I’m not alone. From others I am not apart. We are one in our grief. We are one in our heart!”
Today I know I am a member of God’s family.
Each and every man, woman,
and child is my brother and sister,
and we are one.
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