You will be nearer the centre then, and nearer to one another.
May God Himself bless you, dear old fellow! Forgive this poor attempt at a letter. I share in your joy, although I am not actually with you. I never remember any wedding outside my own family which has given me greater pleasure. It was good of you to ask me to be present—very good.
B——, I am glad. You must thank God and ask Him to tell you what it all means, and for her sake live as good a life as you possibly can.
With best love I am your friend,
FORBES.
To a Friend after hearing of his intended ordination.
Durban: August 1899.
Your ordination will be like my own over again. It is unutterably good of God … to put it into your heart to live the life which I had prayed might be yours. Meizoteran touton ouk charin, hina akouo ta ema tekna en te aletheia peripatounta …
[Transcriber's note: The Greek phrases in the above paragraph were transliterated as follows: Meizoteran—Mu, epsilon, iota, zeta, omicron, tau, epsilon, rho, alpha, nu; touton—tau, omicron, upsilon, tau, omega, nu; ouk—omicron, upsilon, kappa; charin—chi, alpha, rho, iota, nu; hina—(rough breathing mark) iota, nu, alpha; akouo—alpha, kappa, omicron, upsilon, omega; ta—tau, alpha; ema—epsilon, mu, alpha; tekna—tau, epsilon, kappa, nu, alpha; en—epsilon, nu; te—tau, eta; aletheia—alpha, lambda, eta, theta, epsilon, iota, alpha; peripatounta—pi, epsilon, rho, iota, pi, alpha, tau, omicron, upsilon, nu, tau, alpha]
… If your temptations are great it is because your nature is rich and noble; and when it is disciplined you will have tremendous power. I shall not be content until your every thought is led captive to 'the obedience of the Christ.' You are born to be a saint, and you will be wretched until you are one. You are not the kind of man who can do things by halves.