As I walk alongside my mother in her final journey from death to life, I realize that Christianity - as well as other religions, and nature itself -suggests that the pattern of transformation is not death avoided, but death transformed. In other words, the only trustworthy pattern of spiritual transformation is death and resurrection.

Death and life are two sides of the same coin; you cannot have one without the other. Each time you surrender, each time you trust the dying, your faith is led to a deeper level and you discover a Larger Self underneath. In today's online meditation, Father Richa...