"
The other letter referred to is from another father, over whom wave
after wave of sorrow had passed. Within a brief space of time two
children were taken away. The one was a son who had entered his
professional career, and had large hope and promise for the future--a
young man of rare abilities and many noble qualities. The other was a
daughter, who had reached womanhood, and was a happy and beloved wife,
surrounded by friends and the refinements of a beautiful home, and all
that makes life sweet and desirable. Both of these children God took,
one soon after the other. The father, a man of most tender affections,
and yet of implicit faith in God, uttered no murmur when called to
stand at the graves of his beloved ones; and yet his heart cries out
for interpretation.
He writes: "In one of your books[1] I find these words: 'Sometimes our
best beloved are taken away from us, and our hearts are left bleeding,
as a vine bleeds when a green branch is cut from it. . . . Here it is
that Christian faith comes in, putting such interpretation and
explanation upon the painful things, that we may be ready to accept
them with confidence, even with rejoicing. . . . A strong, abiding
confidence that all the trials, sorrows, and losses of our lives are
parts of our Father's husbandry, ought to silence every question, quiet
every fear, and give peace and restful assurance to our hearts in all
their pain.
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