Anxiety, worry and fear are no strangers to me. My mother was a product of the Depression and was a chronic worrier. I inherited my share of her fears. There is plenty to worry about in life. At each stage of our lives we have different worry demons to combat. As we get older, and realize that we have less and less control over health and financial issues we worry about end of life issues. What will become of us when we are left alone? We fear poverty and pain, neglect and loneliness.

When I had a vision of God it was formed by images of this nature. I was raised in the Anglican Church in New Zealand which used the 1662 Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England.

"With the incarnation, the ministry of Jesus on earth began; with the ascension, the ministry of Jesus from heaven began, the same Lord and the same ministry, yet different in manner, because it is now in the agency and power of the Holy Spirit. Descent and ascent run parallel to one another, completing the loop, as it were, of our Lord's life and ministry. The first means Jesus' ministry on earth, in his flesh as we know it.

Granger Westberg wrote a little book entitled Good Grief which identified the stages of grief through which we must travel. After the initial shock there is our emotional expression of our loss. We feel depressed and alone. We may get sick and become panicky. We feel a sense of guilt, and anger. We struggle with returning to normal activities. Only gradually does hope comes through and we can affirm the new reality of our lives.