But now to pass on to one further source of consolation which comes in its measure to all the bereaved alike; the chastened joy from the thought of the splendid sacrifice the dear one has been privileged to make.

Take an illustration—­a letter from Major-General Allenby to Lady de Crespigny on the death of her son:—­

“Dear Lady de Crespigny,—­I and the whole of the Cavalry Division sympathise with you, and we feel deeply for Norman’s loss.  But I must tell you that he died a hero’s death.  The brigade was hotly engaged, and on the Bays fell the brunt of the fighting on September 1st.  Norman, with a few men, was holding an important tactical point, and he held it till every man was killed or wounded.  No man could have done more, few would have done so much.

  “With deepest sympathy, yours sincerely,

  “E.H.H.  Allenby.”

How the bereaved hearts in the midst of crushing grief must have lit up with gladness at such a record as that!

But to close.  The discipline of bereavement consists essentially in the trial of faith, yet at the same time brings with it the power of faith.  In bereavement, above all other forms of sorrow, comes the felt need of God; it has been so with countless souls.  The answer to the need is the revelation that God makes of Himself in Christ; then comes the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, which dries the tears and heals the broken heart.

Note.—­The question of prayer in connection with God’s foreknowledge is so admirably treated in “Some Elements of Religion” (Liddon) that we append an extract:—­

“What if prayers and actions, to us at the moment perfectly spontaneous, are eternally foreseen and included within the all-embracing Predestination of God, as factors and causes, working out that final result which, beyond all dispute, is the product of His Good Pleasure?

“Whether I open my mouth or lift my hand is, before my doing it, strictly within the jurisdiction and power of my personal will:  but however I may decide, my decision, so absolutely free to me, will have been already incorporated by the All-seeing, All-controlling Being as an integral part, however insignificant, of His one all-embracing purpose, leading on to effects and causes beyond itself.  Prayer, too, is only a foreseen action of man which, together with its results, is embraced in the eternal Predestination of God.  To us this or that blessing may be strictly contingent on our praying for it; but our prayer is nevertheless so far from necessarily introducing change into the purpose of the Unchangeable, that it has been all along taken, so to speak, into account by Him.  If, then, with ‘the Father of Lights’ there is in this sense ‘no variableness, neither shadow of turning,’ it is not therefore irrational to pray for specific blessings, as we do in the Litany, because God works out His plans not merely in us but by us; and we may dare to say that that which is to us a free self-determination, may be not other than a foreseen element of His work.”

For suggested Meditations during the week see Appendix.