WHEN THE DOOR OPENS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 54, 7 March 1944, Page 7

WHEN THE DOOR OPENS

A MOTHER'S SPLENDID SPIRIT "FIRM JN THE FAITH" This letter, written to The London Daily Skctch by a mother who has lost one son in the war and is informed that another is missing, is so calm of spirit and firm in faith that we reprint it in full in the belief that it may be a source- of comfort and of strength to other parents who have lost, loved ones o\ have them serving in this great crusade against evil. "I write this in the deep and earnest desire that it may, to some ex-» tent, comfort, help and strengthen all those who have lost a dear one during these bitter years, and dreadful thought it must be, those who arc going to lose dear ones .i'n the months to come. "Some weeks ago I received a telegram telling me that my youngest son hacl been killed, in actifan out over the Atlantic he was helping to guard. Four weeks later, to the very hour, 1 had another telegram telling me. that my second son was missing over enemy territory. "I still do not know whether he is in this world or has gone to join his brother. Their ages are 21 and 20, both sergeants of the R.A.F., and skilled men. ' Supreme Purpose "I only mention these details because some people say, 'What a waste of valuable young lives.' Indeed, that is not so. All.' the long of hard work and high en-, deavour were leading to their supreme purpose—to protect our England and all the world, and to soek out, fight and destroy evil. T had a letter which said: 'It is not the length of his life that matters,, but the quality of it.' How true that is; All these young men are putting more into their short lives than some people put into all their years on earth. Those letters we receive, are they not a most wonderful consolation? lit is one of the greatest characteristics and one of the most priceless assets our nation possesses—• that intense desire to help little children and any one in distress. "After the second telegram many friends said to me: 'I do not know what I can say to you,' and 1 answered: 'Believe, me when I tell you that it doesn't matter in the least what you say, the fact you have shown me your sympathy is everything to me, and I assure you T value it more highly than I can possibly express. Our boys, of the Armed Forces of the Crown by land and sea and air go out. in the day and in the night, in storm and sunshine, heat and. cold, to fight evil and they do not go alone. Each and every one of them carries a Guiding Light, the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.' Love Lives On "They do not die—there is no death; death lias been conquered.. Their spirit, their influence, their love lives on. God has called them to yet higher work, to go on fighting evil for the sake of their little brothers and sisters: What here is faithfully begun, Shall lie completed, not undone. "They are not far away, they have not left u.s. They are, as it were, in [the. next room and it is only that the door is shut. I'n God's good time the door will open and we shall be with them again, but we must make sure that we shall not be ashamed to meet those brave young men who willingly gave up life itselif in tyhe titanic struggle, against evil, li have not forgotten the children of the Blitz. They stayed so short a time with us, but dear and sacred, memories remain with us. The Job to Come "Their little, souls are with us, too, in the next room, and those memories and their influences are such that I: cannot understand those who say it would have been better if they had, never been born. God in His infinite mercy limits our capacity for suffering, and L believe that no one,, man or woman, is given a greater burden than he can carry. And so we will try to do what they would ask us to do —carry on; carry on our daily work of trying to make a better world for our little ones. "Since the two telegrams I have lost all vindictiveness. I only pray that all this dreadful misery and slaughter may cease, that after we have beaten the enemy we may buckle to and start the real job— and it is a full-time job—of t-ying to make tlie enemies of mankind into decent God-fearing men and women. "If we could succeed in that we certainly need not be ashamed when the 'door opens into the next room.'"