Our wills are ours, we know not how, Our wills are ours, to make them Thine.
I do not belong and I never have belonged to any of the societies or guilds which you mention. I am a member of a Church. For that reason I dare not join any party. In fact, I cannot understand what 'parties' have to do with a Church. The Church by its very existence is a witness against parties and divisions. It will take me more than a lifetime to learn what it is to be a member of a Church; and no one can learn the lesson while he persists in clinging to a party. He must be a member not of a _part_ but of a _whole_. I therefore have no time to waste in joining a party.
I feel strongly that the various societies and guilds, based upon _party_ life, are eating away the very life of the Church. But I am slow in condemning my neighbour for conscientiously joining any such { 110} society. He may only be able to see one side of truth, and it is better--far better--that he should see that side than nothing at all.
_To the mother of his godchild, Margaret Forbes._
It is such a joy to me to be allowed to be her godparent, and I shall remember her often in my prayers. What a wonderful revelation she must be to you both--making the Heavenly Home a fuller reality than ever before! It is through earthly relationships that we realise the meaning of the unseen world. I like those lines of Faber:
All fathers learn their craft from Thee: All loves are shadows cast By the beautiful eternal hills Of Thine unbeginning past.
Rouxville, Orange Free State; July 8, 1899.
It is a strange and somewhat terrible study in religion--this Boer religion. It seems to have little or no connection with morality. Kruger seems to have amassed great wealth by doubtful means. A man comes to him and offers him, say, 8,000_l._ on condition that he may have the right to sell mineral waters. Mrs. Kruger comes in and counts the money; and if it is right, the concession is granted. Yet he is religious, very religious. A short time ago they wanted to fire shells into the low-lying clouds during a time { 111} of drought. The clouds gather, but they will not break. Firing shells was found to have a good effect in bringing the rain. But Kruger stopped it because it was wrong to 'fire shells at the Almighty.' You would think that a little state like this might be an ideal one with its simple scattered population of farmers. But it is by no means so. Corruption and injustice are only too prevalent. At the start off they were unfortunate in their choice of President. The state was at war with the Basutos at the time when he was elected; and three months after he was made President he had to be deposed, because he was discovered selling arms to the Basutos.