Page:The Doctrines of the New Church Briefly Explained.djvu/182

176 Love which is guided in all its operations by an infinite Wisdom; that the great end of creation was a heaven of angels from the human race—an end which Divine Providence is perpetually seeking; that this end is pursued not blindly, nor in any arbitrary manner, but in conformity to the eternal laws of Divine order, which Providence is ever striving to make men understand and obey; that, among the many and beautiful laws of Divine Providence, are included also the laws of permission, under which physical and moral evils fall, all of which are permitted for the sake of a wise and beneficent end. This doctrine of the Divine Providence assures us of the Lord's infinite wisdom and mercy in all that He permits us to suffer, as well as in all that his love provides. It teaches that He has supreme regard, not merely to our present and temporal, but to our future and eternal, welfare; that, if He permits us to be crucified outwardly, it is that we may thereby be purified inwardly; and if He suffers us to be afflicted in time, it is that we may thereby be made happier through eternity. It teaches that Infinite Love never forsakes one human soul,—no, not even in that soul's darkest and guiltiest hour; that this Love pursues every individual through all his devious wanderings,— sometimes with warning and entreaty, sometimes with rebuke and chastisement,—always yearning