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If sorrow and adversity visit us, let us turn our faces to the Kingdom and heavenly consolation will be outpoured. (111:1) If we are sick and in distress let us implore God's healing, and He will answer our prayer. (111:2) When our thoughts are filled with the bitterness of this world, let us turn our eyes to the sweetness of God's compassion and He will send us heavenly calm! If we are imprisoned in the material world, our spirit can soar into the Heavens and we shall be free indeed! (111:3) When our days are drawing to a close let us think of the eternal worlds, and we shall be full of joy! (111:4) You see all round you proofs of the inadequacy of material things-- how joy, comfort, peace and consolation are not to be found in the transitory things of the world. Is it not then foolishness to refuse to seek these treasures where they may be found? The doors of the spiritual Kingdom are open to all, and without is absolute darkness. (111:5) Thank God that you in this assembly have this knowledge, for in all the sorrows of life you can obtain supreme consolation. If your days on earth are numbered, you know that everlasting life awaits you. If material anxiety envelops you in a dark cloud, spiritual radiance lightens your path. Verily, those whose minds are illumined by the Spirit of the Most High have supreme consolation. (111:6) I myself was in prison forty years-- one year alone would have been impossible to bear-- nobody survived that imprisonment more than a year! But, thank God, during all those forty years I was supremely happy! Every day, on waking, it was like hearing good tidings, and every night infinite joy was mine. Spirituality was my comfort, and turning to God was my greatest joy. If this had not been so, do you think it possible that I could have lived through those forty years in prison?
(111:7)
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