Sunday, May 24, 2015

"Underneath are the everlasting arms"

From C.S. Lewis, Letters to an American Lady:
Magdalene College,
Cambridge
17 June 63

Dear Mary

This is terrible news. The doctor who refused to come would, I think, be liable to criminal prosecution in this country.

Pain is terrible, but surely you need not have fear as well? Can you not see death as the friend and deliverer? It means stripping off that body which is tormenting you: like taking off a hairshirt or getting out of a dungeon. What is there to be afraid of? You have long attempted (and none of us does more) a Christian life. Your sins are confessed and absolved. Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave it with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.

Remember, tho' we struggle against things because we are afraid of them, it is often the other way round — we get afraid because we struggle. Are you struggling, resisting? Don't you think Our Lord says to you "Peace, child, peace. Relax. Let go. Underneath are the everlasting arms. Let go, I will catch you. Do you trust me so little?"

Of course this may not be the end. Then make it a good rehearsal.

Yours (and like you a tired traveller, near the journey's end)

Jack
C.S. Lewis died on November 22, 1963

C.S. Lewis, Letters to an American Lady at Amazon

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