From a collection of quotations from John Henry Cardinal Newman put together by le Propriétaire as a younger man, recently recovered from a bundle of old papers. It was part of a series of essays for the invisible community of those who care for the things of the mind and Spirit, a circle of friends around the world.
"God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission, I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.
I am a link in a chain. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place while not intending [to do so], but I do [if I] keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling.
Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; if I am in hardship, my hardship may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. My sickness, or hardship, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end, which is quite beyond us.
He does nothing in vain; He may prolong my life, He may shorten it; He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends, throw me among strangers, make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide the future from me... still He knows what He is about.
The more we do, the more we shall trust in Christ; and that surely is no morose doctrine, that leads us to soothe our selfish restlessness, and forget our fears, in the vision of the Incarnate Son of God.
May the Lord support us all the day long, till the shadows lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in His mercy may He give us safe lodging, a holy rest, and the peace [we crave] at last."
I am a link in a chain. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place while not intending [to do so], but I do [if I] keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling.
Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; if I am in hardship, my hardship may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. My sickness, or hardship, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end, which is quite beyond us.
He does nothing in vain; He may prolong my life, He may shorten it; He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends, throw me among strangers, make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide the future from me... still He knows what He is about.
The more we do, the more we shall trust in Christ; and that surely is no morose doctrine, that leads us to soothe our selfish restlessness, and forget our fears, in the vision of the Incarnate Son of God.
May the Lord support us all the day long, till the shadows lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in His mercy may He give us safe lodging, a holy rest, and the peace [we crave] at last."
Have a good and godly day.
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