are, you are yet My dearly beloved son and child; only turn to Me,
only open your heart to Me, only struggle, however faintly, to be
what you can desire to be, and I will guide and lead you to Myself;
all that is needed is that your heart should be on My side in the
battle. Even your sins matter little, provided that you can say
sincerely, 'If it were mine to choose and ordain, I would never
willingly do evil again.' I know, better even than you yourself
know, your difficulties, your temptations, your weaknesses; the
sorrow they bring upon you is no dreary and vindictive punishment,
it is the loving correction of My hand, and will bring you into
peace yet, if only you will trust Me, and not despair."

The world is full of dreadful things, pains and sorrow and
miseries, but the worst of all are the dreary wretchednesses of our
own devising. The old detestable doctrine of Hell, the idea that
the stubborn and perverse spirit can defy God, and make its black
choice, is simply an attempt to glorify the strength of the human
spirit and to belittle the Love of God. It denies the truth that
God, if He chose, could show the darkest soul the beauty of
holiness in so constraining a way that the frail nature must yield
to the appeal. To deny this, is to deny the omnipotence of the
Creator. No man would deliberately reject peace and joy, if he
could see how to find them, in favour of feverish evil and
ceaseless suffering. If we believe that God is perfect love, it is
inconceivable that He should make a creature capable of defying His
utmost tenderness, unless He had said to Himself, "I will make a
poor wretch who shall defy Me, and he shall suffer endlessly and
mercilessly in consequence." The truth is that God's Omnipotence is
limited by His Omnipotence; He could not, for instance, abolish
Himself, nor create a power that should be greater than He. But if