"Nothing happens to us," Blessed Francis was accustomed to say, "whether of
good or of evil, sin alone excepted, but by the will of God." Good, because
God is the source of all good. _Every best gift and every perfect gift is
from above, coming down from the Father of lights_.[1] Evil, for, _Shall
there be evil in the city which the Lord hath not done_?[2] The evil here
spoken of is that of pain or trouble, seeing that God cannot will the evil
of crime, which is sin, though he permits it, allowing the human will to
act according to the natural liberty which He has given to it. Properly
speaking, sin cannot be said to happen to us, because what happens to
us must come from without, and sin, on the contrary, comes from within,
proceeding from our hearts, as holy Scripture expressly states, telling us
also that _iniquity comes from our fatness_,[3] that is to say, from our
ease and luxury.
Oh, what a happiness it would be for our souls if we accustomed ourselves
to receive all things from the fatherly hand of Him who, in opening it,
fills all things living with blessing! What unction should we not draw
from this in our adversities! What honey from the rock, what oil from the
stones! And with how much moderation should we not behave in prosperity,
since God sends us both the one and the other, that we may use both to the
praise and glory of His grace.
[Footnote I: St. James i. 17.]
[Footnote II: Amos iii. 6.]
[Footnote III: Psalm lxxii. 7.]