Chapter 7
Prayer
In all the centers of population on earth, one will find "houses of prayer" -- churches, synagogues, temples, mosques. Prayers are being offered to God in some place on earth during all the hours of the days and nights.More frequent than prayers offered by assembled groups in "houses of prayer" are prayers offered by individuals. Countless persons pray to God upon arising in the morning, before each meal, and upon retiring at night. Prayer is a universal characteristic of persons who believe in the existence of God.Prayer has two marks that distinguish it from normal conversation. First, it involves communicating with God, who is incomparably superior to us as our Creator and Sovereign Lord. Second, it is most often a silent communication that may be carried on at any hour and in any place at the option of the person who is praying.There is no denying that many persons today do not pray. Persons who have no problems and whose lives are busy, interesting, and financially successful often have no awareness of a need to pray.In a general sense, prayer is an act of the intellect acknowledging the existence of God. The spirit of prayer is to establish a bond with God by engaging in a free act of belief and trust in God.The poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, wrote:"He prayeth best who loveth best All things both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all."For Christians the greatest prayer is the Lord's Prayer. For Christians and Jews, the one hundred fifty psalms of the Old Testament of the Bible are wonderful prayers. The Psalms proclaim God as the Beginning and the End of all creation.An individual's private prayers may be as simple as repetition of a short sentence such as "God help me in my life." One can pray in a way similar to the way that one would speak with the greatest, dearest, and most trustworthy friend that one has.The person, in substance, say,"Here I am, Lord. This is what is good in my life. This is what is not good." You have the ability to recollect, to analyze, and to contemplate your own state in life.For some persons, it might be helpful to look at prayer as spiritual psycho-therapy. Unlike the worldly process of psychotherapy, prayer does not involve a conversation with a human therapist. It involves a silent communication with God in which you review your sufferings, your hopes, your dreams, and your desires for personal improvement. This process can provide you with renewed strength.General types of prayers include thanksgiving to God, requests for God's help, asking for God's forgiveness, prayers for loved ones, and prayers for those that you do not like very much.Every human being already has a personal relationship with God, but this is only a one-way relationship if a person does not make prayer a part of that person's life. The central truth for every human being to understand is that God loves each human being. God wants every person to join Him in a perfect life after this earthly life ends.Prayer enables every human being to move closer to our Divine Father. Prayer makes the relationship with God a two-way relationship. The time spent in prayer is personal time for communicating with God.Chapter 8
Grief and Remembrance
Great joy is experienced by one who lives in the presence of a good and loving person, but always one must be aware that the loss of this lovable person will bring grief that will be hard to endure.Grief over the death of his wife was set forth in the book, A Grief Observed, written by C.S. Lewis of Oxford University. Lewis wrote that he had often warned himself not to count on earthly happiness. He had been supremely happy with the life he was living with his beloved wife. She was, he said, his comrade, his shipmate, his friend, his fellow soldier, his pupil, and his teacher.Near the day of her death, he said to her with both well aware that she was about to die, "If you can -- if it is allowed -- come to me when I too am on my deathbed." She replied, "Heaven would have a job to hold me."Her death devastated him. One effect from a physical point of view was a feeling of complete physical exhaustion. His main problem was that his grieving soul cried out for help. He wrote, "I need Christ."Lewis commented that it is impossible to see clearly when one's eyes are filled with tears. He was able to console himself by recalling his wife's words at the end of her life. She said, "I am at peace with God."A close friend and colleague of C.S. Lewis was the renowned writer, J.R.R. Tolkien, who throughout his lifetime suffered grief over his loss of his mother when he was still a boy. His mother was a poor widow who struggled to care for her two sons. The little family of three were supremely happy together. The happiness of the boys was changed to sorrow when their young mother died from diabetes. Tolkien often remarked that his mother was killed by the difficulties she endured in rearing her two children.In his public life, Tolkien appeared as a cheerful person with a great zest for life.In his private life, Tolkien expressed his grief in his diaries and letters. The grief over the early loss of his mother caused him to experience periods of profound despair.
Many psychologists including Sigmund Freud have studied grief. Freud suggested psychoanalysis as a treatment for grief. Psychoanalysis has often been referred to as the talking cure. Problems that often accompany grief include headaches, stomach upsets, flutterings in the stomach, insomnia, loss of appetite or excessive appetite, fatigue, nervousness, vomiting, palpitations, chest pains, memory loss, increased use of alcohol, anxiety, indecisiveness, restlessness, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. A "broken heart" brings real problems.The length of time of mourning differs for each survivor. The first year will bring the full circle of mourning as each season and each holiday brings fresh memories of the one who was loved and lost.Usually the grieving person repeatedly reviews the memories of events leading up to the death. These happenings are recorded in the mind for instant retrieval.An unfortunate complication causing emotional distress in some families is a dispute arising over distribution of property of the deceased.One death frequently causes numerous and profound changes to taken place in the lives of grieving members of a family. A wife losing a husband may face a major drop in income so that she may be forced to give up her home and to seek employment for herself.Sometimes children must give up their plans for additional education.If a wife with young children dies, the widower is faced with the many problems of being a single parent.
Grief can result in a survivor becoming embittered. This appears to be true in the case of the author, Mark Twain. The mask that he wore before the public was that of a humorist spreading laughter to all, but beneath the mask was the face of an angry man.His 22-month-old son died after Mark Twain made the mistake of not keeping the child covered properly while taking him on a carriage ride on a bitterly cold day. Mark Twain's favorite daughter, Susy, died suddenly of meningitis. His wife suffered mental illness after the daughter's death and then she died. Five years later his daughter, Jean, died of a heart attack. One of his closest friends died suddenly. Each of these deaths had a bad impact on Mark Twain.A memorable ancient picturization of grief is found in the Metamorphoses of Ovid. The poet tells of the losses suffered by, Niobe, who first lost seven sons and then lost seven daughters. Niobe was so overwhelmed in her grief that she was transformed into stone.A person must call upon all personal sources of strength to continue to follow the routines of daily life. Life must go on. One's responsibilities to others who are living must be fulfilled.Recently a middle-aged man was amused by a serious request made to him by his best friend. The friend said,"I am worried that when I die, no one will come to my funeral. Will you promise me that if I die first that you will come? I promise that if you die before I do, I will come to your funeral."This concern about being remembered after death has caused many persons to provide instructions for memorials for themselves. In every cemetery, monuments are to be found inscribed with names and dates of birth of persons who are still living. When each person actually dies and is buried, the date of death will be inscribed on the monument.Many living persons selected the type of funeral that they want for themselves. Some persons have paid in advance the expenses for their funerals.Lewis Mumford in his book, The City in History, wrote as follows:"The dead were the first to have a permanent dwelling ... The city of the dead is the forerunner, almost the core, of every human city."At every large cemetery on a Sunday afternoon, one will see visitors coming to the graves of their loved ones. Individual men and women will be seen sitting quietly in a shady spot near the grave of the person who continues to be sorely missed.Cemeteries are thought-provoking, picturesque places to visit. Belief in the resurrection of the body is expressed in crosses, in images of angels, in quotations from the Bible, and in personal testimonials.Thornton Wilder in his play, Our Town, spoke of the deceased in the cemetery at Grover's Corner as expecting: "Something important and great. Aren't they waitin' for the eternal part in them to come out clear?"Chapter 9
Summary
Your nature consists of a material body and a spiritual soul.
You are a free-acting, unique individual.
You and every other human being have an invitation from God to enter into a new life in God's kingdom after you die.
You must during your earthly life make your decision to accept or to reject God's invitation.
Your spiritual soul will continue in existence after death and will preserve your individual identity.
Your spiritual soul will be reunited with your resurrected, glorified body. You will live again with a nature composed of body and soul.
