A Mother's Love

"Mom! Come!" screamed Verna as she ran into the kitchen, "Jim and Donna are drowning! Hurry! "Mother froze as she faced the agitated girl. School was out and the New England sun had finally brought a hot summer day. So when the two oldest of her six children begged to go swimming in the nearby pond, Mother had consented.

Glancing quickly out the window, Mother took in the scene. She could not swim, but determined not to let her children drown. Grabbing a pair of water wings she fastened them on her arms as she began to run toward the pond. Stifling her fears about the adequacy of the little flotation devices, she concentrated on the story that Verna was gasping out in broken pieces. Cramps had gripped Jim, and hearing his cry of anguish, Donna swam over to help him. His fight for life was drowning her.

Mother rushed into the water to rescue her children with a prayer on her lips and a love in her heart stronger than the fear of death. After agonizing minutes the struggle for life was over. That evening the pond's surface quietly reflected the setting sun; four young children cried for their mother, and three empty chairs wrung a father's heart with anguished questions.

None of us can escape death's dark shadow, and most are uncertain of its meaning. Interpretations of death vary. Some declare that the dead are still alive, that death simply opens the door into a larger life; others affirm that death is final, and that everyone who dies ceases to exist forever.

Many are searching for answers to questions on suffering and death. Is God responsible for the world's pain and heartache? Do the dead go straight to heaven or hell? Can the dead communicate with us? Do they see or hear us? Does a person reincarnate life after life throughout endless ages?

To find the answers we must go back to the beginning.