me. The call is so loud on every side. And if men like you cannot
hear it, I am driven almost to despair. . . . I often think of my
father's words on his deathbed: 'If I had a thousand lives I would give
them all--all to the ministry.'

The thought that gave me comfort at my own ordination was a text
suggested to me by my brother: 'He had in His right hand seven stars.'
In His right hand--we are safe there. I felt such a worm as I had
never felt before. 'But fear not, thou worm Jacob.' . . . Don't look
for happiness or peace at this time, but for the presence and power
(whether felt or unfelt) of that God whom we both love and try to love
better. Do not persuade yourself that you do not love God. You do,
more than you have any idea of. The part of your 'Ego' which you would
least wish to lose is not even your love for men--but for God. If you
had your choice now, and had to decide what part of your being you
would retain for eternity, it would be the latter. Beloved, if our
heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart. . . . 'He who loves
makes his own the grandeur that he loves.'

_He had in His right hand seven stars_. He is the Judge, but He also
is our refuge and strength and hope.

[1] _In Memoriam_, cxxi.

{148}

_To D. B. K._

Cambridge: July 1901.

When we set to work to help others we discover something of our own
weakness. But along with that discovery comes the realisation of an
inexhaustible fund of strength outside ourselves. We are fighting on
the winning side. God must be stronger than all that opposes. It is
uphill work, especially at first. But just as in learning a language
or learning how to swim, after toiling on with no apparent result,
there comes a day when suddenly we realise that we can do it--how we
know not: so it is in spiritual matters. There is effort still,
sometimes gruesome effort; but it is all different from what it was.
We find the meaning of the paradox, 'Whose service is perfect freedom.'
Love takes the place of law, and, although it is hard at times to serve
God, it is still harder to be the permanent servant of Satan.

Your enthusiasm ought to increase, the more you look life in the face
and see its sin and misery. 'God,' said Moody, 'can do nothing with a
man who has ceased to hope.' Our hope in the possibilities of the
individual and of society ought to grow brighter and saner as time goes
on. . . . Missionary work--I have often wished to d