Dear Gwen, my dear niece,
I want to give you these few lines at the beginning of your two-week packing. So you are about to pack, pack, and unpack for fourteen days. What I would like you to peacefully focus your mind and heart on during this lonely and sad stretch of your journey, my child?
Every single act of yours, every moment of your life is directly connected with God, with one Great Presence. Of course, there are also certain moments, certain acts that bring us closer to God – prayer, silence, holy communion. And yet even these acts cannot unite you so closely with God as your packing of luggage can, if you accept it as the duty of this moment.
Not a single soul in heaven, nor a single angel or archangel can replace you at this place; because what God wants, what God desires to receive from you there in the Herst family, in these days while you pack, is simply this small packing, carried out by a little girl in a small house.
Do you understand me, my dear? At this moment it is packing, at another moment quiet adoration in church; at another a sad and reluctant moving; at another the joy of human affection that you give and receive; at another a sharp, piercing suffering of the soul and mind, complete and utter loneliness; yet at another an outward act of devotion; and at another moment death itself.
All these events, each in its moment and place, will become instruments and means of love, transformation, and the growth of your soul. However, it depends on God which means He will choose… Gwen simply lets herself be led by them humbly, trustingly, and calmly.Your loving old uncle H.
(Friedrich von Hügel /1852–1925/, letter to niece, September 1, 1919)
