Fragment

The Lord gathers home these dear ones to Himself. We feel the loss for ourselves of each one, and I am sure He means that we should, but may we feel it so that we turn only the more to Him, and we shall find a rich recompense with renewal of strength. Then for Him their death is "precious" (Ps.116), precious surely in the sense that thus He is getting another of the trophies of His love to rest awhile in peace and joy with Himself as absent from the body. Each one so gathered "home" is another foretaste to Him of that glorious day of gathering when all will be together; and so too, each one we miss becomes for us a fresh stimulating of our hope and desire for His coming again. "The Lord direct our hearts into the love of God and into the patience of the Christ."
-(Extract from a letter.)