August 30. 1833
Man Cannot Be Stationary — Fatalism and Providence — Sympathy in Joy
If a man is not rising upwards to be an angel, depend upon it, he is sinking downwards to be a devil. He cannot stop at the beast. The most savage of men are not beasts; they are worse, a great deal worse.
The conduct of the Mohammedan and Western nations on the subject of contagious plague illustrates the two extremes of error on the nature of God’s moral government of the world. The Turk changes Providence into fatalism; the Christian relies upon it—when he has nothing else to rely on. He does not practically rely upon it at all.
For compassion a human heart suffices; but for full and adequate sympathy with joy an angel’s only. And ever remember, that the more exquisite and delicate a flower of joy, the tenderer must be the hand that plucks it.