Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled

My most treasured possession

The one book on my bookshelves that I am grabbing in a fire is a humble gray paperback published in 1938 and titled Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled: Selections of Comfort and Courage. There is no introduction, just a dedication that says “To My Mother and to all others who have loved and lost awhile.” The book then has various scripture passages, quotes, and poetry from the likes of John Greenleaf Whittier and Harriet Beecher Stowe. I love how straightforward it is (such a kindness when you're suffering). I'm also at a stage in life where it often feels like nothing will do outside of scripture and poetry.

But the real reason I love this little book is because of where it comes from and because of a four page letter tucked inside. The letter is from one woman in her 80s to another woman in her 80s: my great aunt writing to comfort my grandmother after the death of my grandfather (my great aunt's younger brother).

She writes that she found this book in her mother's things after she died and she wanted to pass it along because of how meaningful it was to her.

She references a conversation they had together about my grandfather’s spiritual state as well as my grandmother's profound grief over a stillborn baby they lost some 50 years before. The scripture verses and wise words of comfort my great aunt gives are remarkable in their brevity and depth.

The letter is dated a few months after my grandfather’s death. She had obviously put in a lot of thought and care to give the right words. She couldn't have know what a gift it would be to me years later. But God knew.