Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

1899

Letters

Lt 1, 1899

Haskell, Sister

January 2, 1899

Portions of this letter are published in 7MR 390.

Dear Sister Haskell:

I have said some things in regard to the feelings which you and Brother Haskell have had toward W. C. White. Now, my sister, I must write to you. I have before spoken to you in regard to the spirit of criticism which you have cherished. By indulging this spirit, you do great harm to yourself and the servants of God. Those who know W. C. White should not be harmed by your words, but they have been, and they suppose that I am in full harmony with you in these things. The Lord alone presented matters to me in their true bearing. 14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, par. 1

The Lord is displeased with you because you exalt yourself and depreciate others, whom He loves and whom He has chosen to do His special work. He has His appointed agencies, through whom He works. The Lord alone presented matters to me in their true bearing. Your words were of a character to belittle the servants of God. It is the attribute of Satan to criticize, to accuse, to disparage; and you have cultivated this defect until both you and your husband have regarded this as right and even praiseworthy. Do you think God looks with pleasure upon your words, your influence in actions, your contempt of W. C. White. The Lord has presented to me his character in a light altogether different from that in which Sister Haskell has presented it. 14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, par. 2

In nearly all our ministers here she finds something to criticize. She picks flaws in them, and speaks evil of them, and makes little things appear objectionable. The Lord has presented to me that this need not be. It hurts her own soul and the souls of others. Sister Haskell, if you had the Christ-love in you, if you had learned in the school of Christ His meekness and lowliness, you would never have dared to think or speak as you have done. I had this opened before me that last night I tarried in Stanmore, before leaving for Balaclava. It nearly killed me. I could not feel natural or act natural. I was like one in a maze. 14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, par. 3

When the lawyer asked, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Christ said, “What is written in the law? how readest thou?” The lawyer answered, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, and with all mind, and with all thy strength; and thy neighbor as thyself.” Said Christ, “Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live.” [Luke 10:25-28.] The lawyer saw himself condemned by the law, while he admitted the righteousness of the law. He at once began his self-justification, self-vindication. 14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, par. 4

This represents your case. You are not a doer of the commandments of God. You exalt yourself greatly, and disparage others; and because others do not regard you in the same light in which you regard yourself, you are dissatisfied, annoyed, and irritated. I want to tell [you] from the Lord that by the ideas you entertain, you are doing your husband more injury than you have any idea. You can prove his ruin, for all these seeds planted by you will bear their objectionable fruit. The Lord knows all about this matter. 14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, par. 5

I cannot get copied the matter I wish, but I will now write a few pages. I have been as one stunned, for I have been instructed that your experience has not been of the right order. You were not inspired by the Spirit of God to put on your magnifying glasses to see if there was something you could criticize in W. C. White. He needed your uplifting in the place of setting down. This that has been opened before me is an offense to God. It is your way, but it does not represent God’s way. I had not supposed that Brother Haskell would take your view of matters. He himself has made mistakes, and if others err, that is no reason why he should feel, as you say, all stirred up, and just provoked and mad in regard to one of the servants of God. Such feeling cannot honor God or do credit to himself. 14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, par. 6

The light given me is that the Lord would have blessed us in being firmly united in our work, but that night in Stanmore I was surprised that a woman who claimed so much knowledge as a teacher, and who felt no hesitancy in becoming matron and preceptress of the school at Avondale, should have so little understanding in regard to the instruction in Matthew 18. Cautions were given me; the attitude of you both made it impossible for us to desire to connect with you in our labor. The principles you work upon are not right. God cannot commend your spirit or your course of action. Did you both feel that it would be a credit for you to show no respect for W. C. White, my son? He does not put himself forward; he does not seek the highest place, but he has been willing to take almost any position in order to help, strengthen, and bless others. The Lord has given him his work ever since he was a little lad, and the Lord has been working with him, but because he has not in everything coincided with all your plans, you have a grudge against him. You say you cannot harmonize with him. If there was more of Christ and less of self abiding in your souls, your attitude would change. 14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, par. 7

You have placed yourselves where I cannot harmonize with you. I have not had the same confidence as formerly that we could work together and be to one another all that we might be, and that God would have us be. This could not be now as it might have been. I need not expatiate upon this. Your course has not been right, and God cannot bless either of you in pursuing it. You have placed yourselves where the Lord cannot bless our efforts in working together. The word was spoken, “How can two walk together except they be agreed?” [Amos 3:3.] 14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, par. 8

Your power of criticism and Elder Haskell’s power of imagination are both under the condemnation of God. The Lord led me to do everything in my power to place you where you would receive proper recognition from your brethren, and what have you done to show that you appreciated the efforts made? The Lord has given W. C. White his work, and it is recognized as of God. Your course of action would cut off his influence from the school board and from the work. You have set him aside, but God has said that He will work with his mind and with his judgment if he will walk humbly with God. 14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, par. 9

Since that meeting in the house at Stanmore, before leaving for Melbourne, I have felt that I could not be to you as I have been hitherto. I love you both, but you have yourselves built up the barrier, and who shall remove it? It has cost me the greatest trial; it has cost me keen agony of soul to write this; and yet it must come to you; then my duty will be done. Think me not your enemy because I tell you the truth. I am your friend, and shall be ever ready to help you if I can. 14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, par. 10

I must tell you that the spirit which was exercised in the mission in London was decidedly wrong. The very same spirit was shown in the disparagement of Sister Ings. This work God will not and never can sanction. It is not His spirit that has prompted such actions. It is a spirit that must be cleansed from the soul. Sister Haskell’s way toward all who do not see things as she does is not the way of the Lord. Hereditary tendencies have been cherished, and have controlled her spirit and actions. You both need to view all matters from the divine side. You should feel the preciousness of the souls for whom Christ has given His life and the constant agency of His Spirit to recover and save. 14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, par. 11