God’s grace will cover us like a cloak-enough to provide for survival but too thin to keep out all the cold.

The Lord has said, ‘I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.’ (Isaiah 48:10, 1 Nephi 20:10). He knows, being omniscient, how we will cope with affliction beforehand. But we do not know this. We need, therefore, the refining that God gives to us, though we do not seek or crave such tribulation.

Most of our suffering comes from sin and stupidity; it is, nevertheless, very real, and growth can occur with real repentance. But the highest source of suffering appears to be reserved for the innocent who undergo divine tutorial training.

Sometimes we are so busy being the hammer or the anvil, that we forget who really needs the shaping.

Consecration thus constitutes the only unconditional surrender which is also a total victory!

Repentance is a rescuing, not a dour, doctrine.

When at length we tire of putting people down, this self-inflicted fatigue can give way to the invigorating calisthenics of lifting people up.