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This letter is written to one of God’s
favorite children. I know how difficult
it may be for you to appreciate those
last words in view of the sufferings you
endure; but they are true nevertheless.
M
an’s purpose in life is to serve God
here on earth as a means of meriting
the eternal reward of Heaven. Of course,
the conditions under which we serve
God depends upon the surroundings
in which He has placed us. For some,
those surroundings consist of power
and wealth, and all the advantages
which they carry with them. For
others, it will mean commonplace
circumstances of life with their mixture
of pleasure and hardships. For still
others, those surroundings will be a
matter of constant suffering, in the
sense that they are made up of those
things from which the normal person
ordinarily shrinks.
You, dear friend, are in the latter class.
The music of the theater, the laughter
of the banquet table, the natural and
normal consolations which come from
human relationships - all of these are
denied to you. No matter how helpful
those around you may try to be, the
inevitable fact confronts you that, during
most of your life, you will have to put up
with the four walls of your room and
the somewhat impersonal companionships
which your books and your radio
furnish. How slowly the clock ticks
under such circumstances and how
agonizing are the hours which follow!
Prolonged periods of social isolation can
cause even the hardiest of individuals to
break down. In spite of these hardships,
you remain God’s favorite children
chosen by Him and, in a very special
way, are the recipient of His Love and
affection.
It is natural that you should feel low
at times, particularly when special
circumstances and your own weaknesses
weigh heavily upon you. Helplessness,
loneliness and the feeling of being a
burden to others have a pain all of their
own which no amount of reasoning
or resolve can entirely remove. Your
suffering would lose its pain if those
situations were entirely removed, and
it is the very fact of your suffering which
has marked you as one of God’s favorite
children. Let us look at the mission of
suffering:
Spiritual experts tell us that some of
the chief obstacles to perfection are
various attachments which we have to
those things surrounding us. This is
why it is so difficult for the rich man to
enter Heaven.