The Danish Peace Academy

GANDHI AND NORDIC COUNTRIES

Letter, April 1, 1934

As at Patna,

3.45 a.m. April 1, 1934

My dear child,

I had your long letter after keeping me waiting for a long time. There is not in your letter enough search for truth, that is, the hidden purpose of God. When we know that God Himself is the mystery of mysteries, why should anything that He does perplex us? If He acted as we would have Him do or if He acted exactly like us, we would not be His creatures and He our Creator. The impenetrable darkness that surrounds us is not a curse but a blessing. He has given us power to see the steps in front of us and it would be enough if Heavenly Light reveals that step to us. We can then sing with Newman, ‘One step enough for me.’ And we may be sure from our past experience that the next step will always be in view. In other words, the impenetrable darkness is nothing so impenetrable as we may imagine. But it seems impenetrable when in our impatience we want to look beyond that one step. And since God is love, we can say definitely that even the physical catastrophes that He sends now and then must be a blessing in disguise and they can be so only to those who regard them as a warning for introspection and self-purification.

I understand what you say about the children. I am glad that you are in Kodaikanal with the children. You will let me know when Menon gets something. Agatha Harrison is with me. It is rather a trying time for her, not being used to the Indian life. But she is standing it bravely because she wants to learn everything that she can in the shortest time possible. Muriel Lester, I left at Patna. She was not doing well. I return to Patna on the 4th April to leave it on the 7th for Assam. I return again to Bihar about the 25th, pass about a week and then go to Orissa once more returning to Bihar.¹⁷⁷ You will continue to use the Wardha address.

Love to you and kisses to the children to whom I may not write today.

Bapu

Mrs. Esther Menon

Bourne End

Kodaikanal

Source: My Dear Child, pages 104-05; Collected Works, Volume 57, pages 344-45

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