Physical pain beyond a certain point ceases to be pain and becomes an
ecstasy. The same beneficent law controls mental and spiritual
agonies. They each have their limit. To the keenest of sorrows, the
deepest of griefs our Maker has spoken: "Thus far shalt thou go, and no
farther." Nurse them as we may, draw them as deeply as we can into our
soul's recesses, and make them, in our morbid states, idols to cherish,
they yet lose their power to hold our souls in subjection.
Both physically and mentally, the nerves of feeling refuse to respond.
They have their limitation, and time holds for every heart-breaking
experience a consolation. If it were not so, this world would be
turned into a vast, howling lunatic asylum. Unseen and unrecognized by
stricken hearts, "The Angels of His, who do His pleasure" stand ever
ready to pour healing balm upon all our wounds, and to teach the great,
eternal truth that afflictions are the real educators of the soul.