uch a man as you loves me is almost more
than I can bear. It throws a new light on life here, and on that
fuller life to which God is leading us hereafter; like you, thank God,
I cannot complain of lack of friends, but I have never had one who has
written me such a letter, full of an affection for which I crave. The
worst is, I can't repay your kindness. You bring me nearer to God, you
make me realise in the strangest way His affection, you make me feel
the worth and mystery of a human soul. I wish I could return your help
somehow or other. Do show me the way. I wish you did not find it so
difficult to pray for me. I am sure you are right in going back to
such a man as St. Paul for subjects of prayer. The opening chapters of
his letters to the Ephesians and Colossians give the kinds of requests
which it is worth making on behalf of any one. There is surely no harm
in finding that, as you pray for another, your own faith is growing.
There is nothing selfish in that. It is rather the result of the law
_didote kai dothesetai humin_.

[Transcriber's note: The Greek phrases in the above paragraph were
transliterated as follows: _phobos_--phi, omicron, beta, omicron, final
sigma; _ouk_--omicron, upsilon, kappa; _estin_--epsilon, sigma, tau,
iota, nu; _en_--epsilon, nu; _te_--tau, eta; _agape_--alpha, gamma,
alpha, pi, eta; _hoti_--(rough breathing mark) omicron, tau, iota;
_agape_--alpha, gamma, alpha, pi, eta; _kaluptei_--kappa, alpha,
lambda, upsilon, pi, tau, epsilon, iota; _plethos_--pi, lambda, eta,
theta, omicron, final sigma; _amartion_--alpha, mu, alpha, rho, tau,
iota, omega, nu; _didote_--delta, iota, delta, omicron, tau, epsilon;
_kai_--kappa, alpha, iota; _dothesetai_--delta, omicron, theta, eta,
sigma, eta, tai, alpha, iota; _humin_--(rough breathing mark) upsilon,
mu, iota, nu]

Your faith can only grow with exercise, and you exercise it by praying
for others. You would only be selfish if you prayed for some one else
_in order that_ your own soul might be benefited.

But don't think too much of selfishness. Bring {156} all your half
selfish desires to Him who knows us through and through; and in His
presence, almost unconsciously, your motives will gradually be
purified. You will learn to walk in the light as He Himself is in the
light. As I look back on this letter, a large part of it seems
selfish. I expect much is; but, even in the selfish parts, there is
something more besides. I can only