But when one believes that you've been appointed by God for a particular mission in history, you have to be very careful about that, how you speak about that. Where is the self-reflection in that? Where is the humility in that?
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Once imbued with the idea of a mission, a great nation easily assumes that it has the means as well as the duty to do God's work.
I esteem it the crowning mercy of my life that not only the chief ends I contemplated on becoming a missionary are attained, but I am allowed to see competent, faithful, and affectionate successors actively engaged in the work.
To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal.
The self is just not a worthy enough vehicle to worship.
There is a sense of call to take leadership roles. You're serving people and submitting to God as best you can.
Blessed are the people whose leaders can look destiny in the eye without flinching but also without attempting to play God.
So many have come to me that I might serve them, leaving me no time to think of myself. However, I assure you that I do feel deep down within me, God be praised.
The idea that an individual can find God is terribly self-centered. It is like a wave thinking it can find the sea.
In every society in human history, including the United States, those in power seek to imbue themselves with the attributes of religion and patriotism as a way of getting greater support for their policy and insulating themselves from any criticism.
All I know is that, thanks to a sort of habit which has always been ingrained in me, I have never, at any moment of my life, experienced the least difficulty in addressing myself to God as to a supreme Someone.