Thank you for your good letter, which demonstrates your understanding and therefore contained balsam.

Where does it come from, and for what purpose do I feel an intense battle within me day and night against these forces which seem to manifest themselves in the rulers of this age? I am utterly convinced that it is God’s Spirit within me stirring up this battle, inspiring me to maintain and enlarge its domain. The peace in my heart and my good conscience absolutely forbid me to just smile and pretend that nothing is wrong. My relationship to my superiors is sharpened through this; seriousness and battles take the place of “glossing things over.” Now, by the grace of God, it’s becoming more peaceful on board. They don’t attack me as much any more. This peace is not a fruit of flattery, but a fruit of battle. You understand well the difference between these two kinds of peace. There are also a number of other ways in which to have peace, but the peace of God in Satan’s domain is only obtained through lawful battle. All this is ordained by God, and I take it from His hand. God has helped us up until today, and He will be with us always, even to the end of the age. Our character is strengthened and tempered by battle. It is when you come close enough to use the sword that you can fight and perish, or fight and overcome. If you give up, your mind will be corrupted, but overcoming by the power of God and in God’s Spirit gives double strength to the soul.

We are to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect—He who is not a respecter of persons. When this perfection is put into practice, it will reduce the honor of the mighty and raise the lowly from their reproach. The consequence of this is that the lowly will feel honored and the mighty dishonored, even though they are not being dishonored. But every exalted person needs to be cast down from their imagined pinnacles onto the plains of reality.

There are many kinds of peace. One is the “peace of grace,” where the person is at rest while unarmed in the midst of their adversaries, oblivious to all danger. (*) Then the light comes, and he begins to see. And with seeing comes battle. Peace in this state must be won through battle. This peace can be called “the peace of victory,” since a person absolutely cannot come to peace in any other way than by fighting their way to it. Whether a “peace of sufferings and patience” comes in the end, I do not know. At any rate, that would not be a (*) “peace of ignorance.”

We must pursue peace in every way, even if it means fighting for it with a sword in hand. My battle here on board has been for peace, and God has granted it to me. But the price of this peace has been so high that, to be honest, I have felt quite wretched. The person I have had the hardest battles with is beginning to retreat. He does not attack with the same reckless abandon as he did in the beginning. God gave me grace to hit the exact points where he was weakest. His selfish ambition prevents him now from laying himself open too frequently for more of the same, since he would rather have peace than a battle with such meager results. And it is precisely in this peace that we can get along with each other.

This is the only peace that is sound and genuine. This peace keeps everyone in their own place.

Please send hearty greetings to Selma and Berglioth, and the very warmest greetings to you from your brother, preserved in Christ,