September 11, 2006: Good from this evil

"In all afflictions God's children must look unto their end [purpose]. They are to desire to profit by them, and in them to seek the way of perfect comfort and consolation -- which that they may find, they must know that the afflictions of the godly last but a while, they serve them but for salves and medicines; the end of them is always happy. In them they are not only preserved and purified from many sins, but also much beautified with the image of Jesus Christ, who is the eldest Son in the house of God."

Richard Greenham (early 1540s-1594)
"On the Comfort of Afflicted Consciences", Works (1599)