Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 1 (1844 - 1868)

Lt 5a, 1861

Hall, Lucinda

Battle Creek, Michigan

April 5, 1861

See variant Lt 5b, 1861. Portions of this letter are published in 1Bio 441-442.

Dear Sister Lucinda [Abbey-Hall]:

We returned from our western journey last Tuesday, some weeks sooner than we intended. The weather was so changeable and the roads so very muddy that we could not travel from place to place without suffering great weariness. Many of the places were off from the railroad. We have no strength to lose or throw away. We expect fierce conflicts with the powers of darkness. We believe the shaking time has come. My cry is, Stay not Thy hand, O God. Let everything be shaken that can be. Let us know who is upon the sure foundation, who is on the Lord’s side. 1LtMs, Lt 5a, 1861, par. 1

Never, never did I see my husband so discouraged as now. I have feared he would tear himself from the Office and have nothing to do with the business matters there. The trials which occurred last summer have so shaken his confidence in his brethren, especially ministers, that I fear he will never recover from it. He calls to mind the disinterested part he has acted in this cause and then the abuse he has suffered, and his courage fails. 1LtMs, Lt 5a, 1861, par. 2

Some think it strange that Brother White should feel thus discouraged. But there is a cause. Look at Brother Rhodes down, and Brother Holt down. They have chosen to follow their own course and now they are of no use. God will not accept their labors. Brethren and sisters blame us for not speaking out before, but we have studied and prayed and spent many hours of anxiety and sorrow to know just what was our duty in regard to these individuals whose names are mentioned in No. 6. 1LtMs, Lt 5a, 1861, par. 3

We have spoken because the cause of God demanded it. The cause of God is a part of us. Our experience and lives are interwoven with this work. We have had no separate existence. It has been a part of our very being. The believers in present truth have seemed as near as our children. When the cause of God prospers we are happy, but when wrongs exist among the people of God we are unhappy, and nothing can make us glad. The earth, its treasures and joys, are nothing to us. Our interest is not here. Is it then strange that my husband, with his sensitive feelings, should suffer in mind? Yes, his mind has bordered on insanity in regard to these things. 1LtMs, Lt 5a, 1861, par. 4

Brother Rhodes may suffer in mind now, but others have suffered on his account long enough. He is not the only one who has suffered. He knows but little of the sufferings of mind he has brought upon my husband, and that he has endured these years. While his interest has been wholly in the cause, everything injurious to it has been a source of deep trial to him, and he has tried to stagger under his treble burden as preacher, editor, colporteur, and financier. He has had to meet the miserable influence of ministers who have pretended to be feeding the flock when they were tearing them to pieces. 1LtMs, Lt 5a, 1861, par. 5

Ministers who have had nothing to do but study their Bible and preach, who could have become skilful workmen, have failed to live upon the plan of addition—“Add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge,” etc. [2 Peter 1:5.] Instead of living upon the plan of addition, they have been living upon the plan of subtraction, and that is the reason they are so feeble and tottering. 1LtMs, Lt 5a, 1861, par. 6

Those who will be thorough in this sacred work God will accept; but He will not accept the labors of those whose influence and doings, words and acts, outweigh all the good they might do. Such had better tarry in Jerusalem until they are endued with power from on high. 1LtMs, Lt 5a, 1861, par. 7

My spirit is stirred within me. I will speak. I will not keep silence. I have girded the armor about me. I am prepared for battle. In the name of the Lord of Hosts I will go forth and act any part which God may assign me in this work. The cause is the Lord’s. Truth will triumph. God will not leave His children to perish. Pray for us, your unworthy friends, that God may lead us forth victorious. 1LtMs, Lt 5a, 1861, par. 8

In much love. 1LtMs, Lt 5a, 1861, par. 9