Letters in Two Parts, Part 2 · LETTER 11
To my Lady KENMURE. (11)
MADAM.
UNderstanding, a little after the writing of my last letter, of the going of this bearer, I would not omit the oppornity of remembring your La: still harping upon that string, which in our whole life-time is never too often touched upon, nor is our lesson well enough learned, that there is a necessity of advancing in the way to the Kingdom of God, of the contempt of the world, of denying our self & bearing of our Lord's cross, which is no less needfull for us then daily food: & among many marks that we are on this journey & under sail toward heaven, this is one, when the love of God so filleth our hearts, that we forget to love & care too much for the having or wanting of other things, as one extreme heat burneth out another. By this, Madam, ye know ye have betrothed your soul in marriage to Christ, when ye doe make but small reckoning of all other suiters or wooers, & when ye can [having little in hand, but much in hope] live as a young heir, during the time of his non-age & Minority, being content to be as hardly handled & under as precise a reckoning, as servants, because his hope is upon the inheritance: For this cause God's bairns take well with spoiling of their goods; Heb. 10. 34. knowing in themselves that they have in heaven a better, & an enduring substance. That day that the earth & the works therein shall be burnt with fire, 2 Pet. 3. 10. your hidden hope & your hidden life shall appear: & therefore since ye have not now many years to your endless eternity, & know not how soon the skie above your head will rive, & the Son of man will be seen in the clouds of heaven, what better & wiser course can ye take then to think that your one foot is here & your other foot in the life so come, & to leave off loving, desiring, or grieving for the wants that shall be made up when your Lord & ye shall meet, & when ye shall give in your bill, that day, of all your wants here? If your losses be not made up, ye have place to challenge the Almighty, but it shall not be so, Ye shall then rejoyce with joy unspeakable & full of glory, & your joy shall none take from you. Ioh. 16, 22. It is enough that the Lord hath promised you great things, onelyonly let the time of bestowing them be in his own carving: It is not for us to set an hou…-glass to the creator of time, since he & we differ onelyonly in the t…e of payment: Since he hath promised payment & we beleeve it, it is no great matter, we will put that in his own will, as the frank buyer who cometh near to what the seller seeketh, useth at last to refer the difference to his will & so cutteth off the course of mutuall prigging. Madam, doe not prigge wish your frank-hearted & gracious Lord about the time of the fulfilling of your joyes, it will be, God hath said it, bide his harvest, wait on upon his Whitsorday: His day is better then your day, he putteth not the hook in the corn till it be ripe & full-eared: The great Angel of the covenant bear you company, till the trumpet shall sound & the voice of the Archangel awaken the dead. Ye shall finde it your onelyonly happiness under whatever thing disturbeth & …sseth the peace of your minde in this life, to love nothing for it self, but onelyonly God for himself: It is the crcoked love of some harlots, that they love bracelets, ear-rings, & rings better then the lover that sendeth them: God will not be so loved, for that were to behave as harlots & not as the chaste Spouse, to abate from our love whē these things are pulled away: Cur love to him should begin on earth as it shall be in heaven, for the Bride taketh not by a thousand degrees so much delight in her wedding garment, as she doeth in her Bridegroom; so we in the life to come, howbeit clothed with glory as with a robe, shall not be so much affected with the glory that goeth about us, as with the Bridegroom's joyfull face & presence. Madam, if ye can win to the here, the field is won; & your minde, for anything ye want or for any thing your Lord can take from you, shall soon be calmed & quieted: Get himself as a pawne & keep him, till your dear Lord come & loose the pawne, & …ue upon you & give you all again, that he took from you, even a thousand talents for o…e penny: It is not ill to lend God willingly, who otherwise both will & may take from you against your will: It is good to play the …surer with him, & take in, in stead of ten of the hundred, an hundred often, an hundred of one. Madam, fearing to be tedious to you, I break off here, commending you [as I trust to doe, while I live] your person, wayes, burdens & all that concerneth you, to that Almighty who is able to bear you & your burdens: I still remember you to him who will cause you one, day to laugh. I expect that what ever ye can doe by word or deed, for the Lord's friendless Zion, ye will doe it: She is your mother, forget her not, for the Lord intendeth to melt & try this land, & it is high time we were all upon our feet, & falling about to try what claim we have to Christ: It is like the the Bridegroom will be taken from us & then we shall mourn: Dear Iesus, remove not, else take us with thee! Grace, grace be with you for ever.
Anwoth, 14. Jan. 1632. Your La: at all dutifull obedience, S. R.