"I think I should take my crucifix and pray, and try to ask the Lord
Christ to remember that he died on the cross for us once. I think he
would take pity on us if we did. Besides, Cousin Else," she added, after
a pause, "I have a sentence which always comforts me. My father taught
it me when I was a very little girl, in the prison, before he died. I
could not remember it all, but this part I have never forgotten: '_God
so loved the world, that he gave his only Son._' There was more, which I
forgot; but that bit I always remembered, because I was my father's only
child, and he loved me so dearly. I do not quite know all it means; but
I know they are God's words, but I feel sure that it means that God
loves us very much, and that he is in some way like my father."
"I know," I replied, "the Creed says, 'God, the Father Almighty;' but I
never thought that the Almighty Father meant anything like our own
father. I thought it meant only that he is very great, and that we all
belong to him, and that we ought to love him. Are you sure, Eva, it
means _he loves us_?"
"I believe so, Cousin Else," said Eva.
"Perhaps it does mean that he loves _you_, Eva," I answered. "But you
are a good child, and always have been, I should think; and we all know
that God loves people who are good. That sentence says nothing, you see,
about God loving people who are not good. It is because I am never sure
that I am doing the things that please him, that I am afraid of God and
of the judgment-day."