The trouble of the world, as you see it afflict your neighbor, is precisely the ground upon which we must seek the peace that is life. You ask for wellness of mind, but what is this except the sober and peaceful spirit of which the Apostle speaks? Do not be distressed at the evils that happen, for as it is written, in the season of temptation, make not haste. Your neighbor’s struggle is not unique; we share in one another’s sorrows, and no one is free from trouble, but some have greater and some less. Let us not therefore be impatient.
The wellness you seek is a spiritual mind. For to be carnally minded is death, a dullness born of affliction and sin, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. This peace is not the external kind, which is often mischievous and unprofitable, but the peace which Christ gives, one that makes us stronger and at peace with one another. Nothing so much delighteth God as this peace which remembers no evil and seeks not war.
Since you pray for your neighbor, let your prayer work first upon your own soul, for the parent of good reaps the fruit first themselves. Do not trace your neighbor’s ailment to some fault in nature, for sin belongs not to necessity and compulsion. The principle of choice and judgment is the root. Therefore, imitate the Son of God. Be at peace. The more your brother wars within himself, by so much the greater will be your reward in supporting him. For God is not a God of fighting, and this is virtue, this maketh us near God. Let the wellness you seek be this very life and peace which loosens the charges against us and sets us free.