Bernie to God:

Dear God, I'd be interested to know what You have to say to those with serious illnesses. What words of wisdom do You have for those facing life-threatening illnesses?

God to Bernie:

Beloved son, what do you expect Me to say that has not already been said a thousand ways? What answer will satisfy? What answer in common language can be enough?

But I will say again in another way so that you know I care about you and what you ask Me. I am not careless about any one of My children, and all are My children. I treasure the treasure of you and all My children scattered across the world. Neither life of the body nor death of the body changes that. Neither health of the body nor illness of the body changes that. Nothing changes the all-encompassing love I have for you. You have My love.

I will say "you" now, meaning all of My children, singling out none. I am talking now to you in general — you who sit before Me. And all sit before Me, some more comfortably than others. Some more comfortable with Me than others. For there are many on Earth who doubt My existence or only believe in Me sometimes.

Some may think, "How can it be there is a God and I sit here with a serious illness? I am going to die. I may linger, but I am going to die. Not only am I going to die, I may well die in pain. What kind of God would allow this, let alone create it? Or, if He does not create it, how then would a God Who purports to love me set me up for this? If somehow I create my illness myself, how then does a God of love allow me to? How does He allow me to be so ignorant that I would do that? Does a God set traps for me? Did He plop me down in a jungle and tell me to go ahead and find my own way out? Does God love me or not? Does He care or not? If yes, how much then or how little? Does He even know what is going on with me? Is He paying any attention? And what does it mean if He is? How much is His attention worth then? How much or how little am I worth to God?"

And so, a child of Mine may add feeling bereft to everything else he feels.

I will tell you the name of your illness. It is called life. Life is the illness. Unless you had life of the body, you would not experience death or any of the precursors of it. Would you rather have been denied life?

The minute a Human body is born, it faces a death sentence.

No one knows the moment that sentence will be carried out. No one knows the moment nor the means. No one on Earth.

This is the contract you signed. You agreed to be born in a Human body, and you agreed to leave it behind. You knew the insignificance of the body. It was so easy for you to sign that contract that you thought it was absurd to have to sign it. And now you want to renege. Now you protest. Now you are horrified that your life should come to this. You even feel betrayed. How much you have forgotten!

When the tree loses its leaves, does it weep?

You are the tree, and you weep for such a paltry thing as your body. You hang on to it for dear life, this vehicle called a body. You may not have enjoyed your life on Earth in that body so much, but now you protest its demise, as if death were an affront to you instead of a blessing.

In your life on Earth, you have moved from one house to another. Sometimes those moves were not voluntary. You may have been evicted. Somehow, in the end, it turned out all right. I tell you that this move you are contemplating now is not one you will regret. Not at all.

You have experienced the death of the body of loved ones. And I have told you that there is no loss. You who were left on Earth may have come to realize this. You may have sensed the eternalness of the life of your loved ones, once you got past the idea that they were their bodies, that is. And now you are looking at this equation from the point of view of the one who himself is leaving soon, or presumably leaving soon. Remember, no one knows the time of death, not for himself nor another. Whoever proclaimed inside knowledge of the term of your life on Earth only made a guess. He is not God. I am.

But, no matter, even if your life in a body on Earth is extended, it does not mean you are more favored than another's whose mortal life is not extended. It only means your body lives longer. Death can be put off, but it cannot be denied.

Meanwhile, you feel fear. You fear death and that it may, after all, hold nothing. That I tell you death brings fullness may not ease your heart. You've been fooled before.

Even if you do believe that what death holds for you is wonderful, you concern yourself with other things.

You fear what the rest of your term of life holds, and whether you will be equal to it. You worry about what you may have to go through and what your performance will be. Partly you want your moment of death to come quickly, and partly you want to delay it. You may not know what you wish for.

You do not know yet what you are capable of. But whether you have what is called a good death or a poor one, it is only death, My children. That is all it is.

You also fear for what you leave behind. All imagined control of events has to leave you now.

You may fear for your loved ones who can not come with you just yet. You fear for their lives without you, and that at their moment of death, they will be alone. At least, you won't be with them. But, yes, you will. You will be with your loved ones more than you are now. This is true what I tell you. All the things that have separated you will no longer exist. You are not leaving them. Know this.

As much as you can, begin to think that this is a journey you are on. It is a passage, and it is an adventure. What you will discover at the end of it is not unknown to you, for you have traveled it before. Many times. You may have forgotten, but when you reach this inescapable valley, you will say, "Ah, now that I am here, I remember this goldenness. Yes, I have been here before. Oh, yes, I remember. I started from here. Thank God I am Home." You can plan this trip a little.

You who are believed to be nearer death than others have been blessed to come face to face with life. No more illusions. Only truth before you. And right now, even as We speak, you are beholding truth more.