I gave a lesson in quorum-meeting on Sunday on the consolation that the Gospel can give us regarding death. I took that to mean both physical and spiritual death; the lesson was a pleasure indeed because of the input from the class members.

The nature of this life is such that consciousness yearns for reassurance before the black maw of the unknown. The blank space before and in front of life lends themselves to hope and despair, depending upon the outlook and culture of the person relating themselves to those unknowns.

Some have a great deal of faith or even a certainty about what is on the other side, and that there is in fact something on the other side.

Those who wrestle with death and those who have passed on provide the most poignant observations and can touch the heart in a way that others often can't. They have plumbed the depths and sought the heights; they have stories unfinished and write them upon their own hearts.

Christ can bring much to those who seek beyond what is said and feel what the Spirit has to teach. That's what my faith says, at least.