A:  I am so terribly sorry to hear of the loss of your beloved son. Being the parent of a son myself, I find it impossible to imagine the pain you must be feeling—even after these three years—even imagining it is painful. It is an experience that no one would want to have, and I want to tell you how very sorry I am for your loss.

It is easy to understand how your faith and hope might be challenged by such a loss. On the face of it, it must feel as if God was very cruel for taking this beloved child from you. But I would like to help you to gain a new perspective, and hopefully, to help you recover your faith in God and some hope for the future, in spite of this devastation in your life.

You have sent your question to Truthbook.com , which is a website dedicated to the teachings of The Urantia Book, a modern-day revelation of God to mankind. The Urantia Book reveals much information about our planet, our universe, and the nature and personality of God in its 2000+ pages .

One of the most comforting parts of the book is its revelation of the loving and fatherly affection that God holds for each and every individual in the vast universes. God has created a plan for every soul—a plan that includes an eternal life and endless progression towards spiritual perfection; and this plan includes children as well.

In The Urantia Book, we are treated to a previously-unknown revelation of the process of death , and what happens after we die . We are assured that death is only the beginning of an endless life of adventure and progression. Your son was 8 years-old—old enough to have received the indwelling of God (the Thought adjuster) into his mind, old enough to have begun the growth of his soul which becomes the immortal vehicle for the eternal life.

Do not despair that your son is forever gone. I can say with absolute certainty, through faith, that your son in alive and well in the worlds on high—progressing and perfecting—and he will most certainly be awaiting the arrival of his loved ones as they themselves eventually pass from this earth.

You do not mention what it was that claimed the life of your beloved son…no matter what it was, I want to tell you that it is never God’s will that our beloveds are harmed or taken from us. Circumstances of life—accidents, illness, or natural disasters—are all a part of the evolutionary nature of life on a planet such as ours. Life has been set in motion here, but the vicissitudes of that life are often of an unpredictable nature, and are not necessarily “willed” by God.

I am saying that God did not deliberately take your son either to punish you, or as some kind of arbitrary act. Accidents of time are just that—accidents—and are not deliberate afflictions visited by God upon his children on earth. If your son happened to be taken through the acts of another, be assured that this act was as a result of human freewill—God does not will harm on his children, but sometimes people DO make terrible choices; however, human free will is a universal reality and even God does not interfere with it. But God’s plan for each individual is not changed, no matter how we happen to meet death.

Death is a natural part of this life, and death will overtake all of us, no matter what the cause. Some of us will live to a ripe old age, and some of us, unfortunately, die very young. Death is visited upon all, though, and yet death is not the end. In fact death is only the beginning, and is the only way that mortals like us can leave the planet. But God is not willing that any should perish. It may comfort you to know that your son is now started on his eternal adventure and he is happy—he is not in pain, he is not afraid, he is cared-for; he is nurtured and he is protected.

I have provided several links in my reply—I hope that you might wish to click on some of those, in order to find out more about what The Urantia Book may offer in the way of comfort and information regarding death, dying, and the eternal adventure. Each link will provide even more links to the text of The Urantia Book, and in this way, you may be able to gain even more perspective on the vastness of God’s plans for his earthly children. One of the links is a short video regarding death which I hope will comfort and inspire you.

In the meantime, I will pray for you and your family that you may come to some peace regarding this devastating loss—a peace born of renewed hope that your son is only temporarily removed from you—hope that you will one day be reunited—and faith in the goodness of God who loves you and your son with an affectionate, fatherly, and eternal love.

I know that my words are inadequate to address your very-real pain and loss—I only hope that you may gain some comfort from allowing yourself to entertain the possibilities that we have been given through the revelation of The Urantia Book. It will likely be impossible to completely erase your pain, but knowing that death is not the end—knowing that God loves you with an eternal love, and that he did not will your son’s death—knowing that one day you will be reunited with him and that he is safe will hopefully ease your painful heartache somewhat. As well as loving your son, God loves YOU with the same affectionate love. He feels your pain, and he goes through it with you, for he lives within you the same as he does with your beloved son.

Thank you so much for writing and for giving us the opportunity to minister to you in your time of need. Please write back with any further questions you may have as a result of this reply.”