reminded him of his own struggle at an earlier point of life to understand the sovereignty of God’s mercy. When he had heard people speak about these things, he had been horrified. He tried to disprove that teaching and found that he could not accept it until he sat by the deathbed of his father. In his letter, he described the experience of being at his father’s side, holding his hand while he took his final breath. Before calling the medical staff, he sat for some twenty minutes next to the lifeless