The Cross a Source of Our Pleasure

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It’s Fénelon Friday!


LETTER 19: The Cross a Source of Our Pleasure

I sympathize with you in all your heartaches. But I know you understand that we must carry the cross with Christ during this fleeting life. Soon time will give way to eternity and our suffering will be over. Soon God will wipe away our tears with His own hand, and pain and sighing will forever flee away, and we shall reign with Christ. But while this fleeting moment of trial with Christ is permitted us, let us not lose sight of the glory of the cross. If we must suffer, then let us do it quietly and humbly. It is self which is always exaggerating our troubles and making us think that they are bigger than they are. But pay no attention to the complaints of self. A cross carried in simplicity, without the interference of self adding to the weight of it, is not really so bad. If we suffer for Jesus because we love Him, we are not only happy in spite of the cross, but because of it. For love rejoices at the privilege of suffering for the Well-beloved, and the cross which forms us into His image is a comforting bond of love.

Francis Fénelon, Let Go (New Kensington, PA: Whittaker House, 1973)

17 Comments

  1. Chere, Dan! I got here before anyone else and… quel horreur! Monsieur Fénelon est ici encore!!
    How are your studies coming? This is the last time I will ask or bug you – Lord bless you!!

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    1. Well…
      My daughter Anna is back in the hospital for suicidal ideation and extreme anxiety.
      Our boiler died so we have no heat or hot water.
      My church is in the middle of a big transition and they just voted to eliminate my position as of next August.
      Unfortunately, I have not finished with all that is going on. I thought about buckling down and doing it this afternoon but specifically thought of you and wondered if doing it during Reformation week would be bad form. =)

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      1. Do the things you need to do, not a project that wasn’t your thing necessarily, Dan, and know that with you and your family, I’ll continue to pray Anna. I’m so sorry about all you’re experiencing. I know that God is with you!

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        1. Thank you friend. You are very kind. Certainly things have been heavy for the last few weeks, but these are just the kinds of things Jesus love to work with. We are, after all, always learning two lessons: 1. You are not enough, and 2. Jesus is enough, and in Jesus we will always have enough.

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          1. preach it! I’m thinking/hoping that down the road and looking back this time will bring you joy. thanks, Dan!

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          2. God does some of the best work in the dark. But for now, I can only be submissive to His will knowing that He is good…. And while I have no heat, I am at this moment sitting in front of a roaring fire in what once was the kitchen fireplace of our house. I am quite comfortable. Again, God is good and gracious.

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          3. Dan, if your lungs are good – no breathing problems like asthma, you can stand this and enjoy it. when Tom and I were young, we had a woodburning stove. it was cozy and joyful because it had glass panes and you could see the fire – though it wasn’t all the heat we had. So, Monsieur Job, you are doing well in your attitude and that is big.

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          4. “Monsieur Job!” lol!
            The Gentle Iconoclast is aptly named it seems….
            We have a wood stove and 4 working fireplaces. The house was built in 1780. It is a beautiful old house. We should have a new boiler in the next week or so. Until then I shall enjoy sitting by the fire with a fine cigar! Puff, puff! :-)=~

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          5. a cigar – that is very Presbyterian. so glad the heating situation is temporary. the house sounds wonderful. I grew up near Philly and there are a lot of old things there too. you are Massachusetts, very old and lots of good things to remember about that commonwealth also.
            :0)

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          6. I do like Presbyterians. =)
            I lived in central NJ for a while. Lots of nice places in and around Philly… and some nice cigar shops too.
            I love the history in MA but would gladly trade it for warmer winters. Perhaps God will grant that wish of mine now that this call is coming to a close…./ponder…

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          7. I was born in Camden. NJ has a lot that is nice about it. well if it is God’s will, I pray you get to a place where the winters are less severe, a place where you all can be loved and needed.

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          8. Ahhh Camden. Not the nicest place. But NJ is not called the “garden state” for nothing. Lots of beautiful places there. And Wegman’s….I do miss Wegman’s.

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          9. Camden was in a lot of jokes, I think. Best sweet corn – the state has good “truck farm” soil. Most of my relatives now live there. I don’t know Wegman’s – sounds like a store, a deli?

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          11. Sounds like a good place to go, a fun place where you can find specialty items. Hope your wife is well!

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