Thomas Moore

Thomas Moore

In the summer and fall of 1528 the country suffered a severe famine. That winter, Moore fed one hundred people a day. Then, just as a most welcomed harvest came, a fire broke out caused by the negligence of one of his neighbors. The result was the destruction of all of More’s barns, part of his house, and several of the neighbors barns as well. More was out of the country when he received word. 

Yet, without hesitation he sent a letter to his wife telling her, “We must and are bound not only to be content but also to be glad of God’s will. After all, it was God who sent us all that we have lost and since He has by such a chance taken it away again, His pleasure has been fulfilled. 

Let us heartily thank God as well for adversity as for prosperity, and perhaps we have more cause to thank Him for our loss than for our gain, for His wisdom sees better what is good for us than we do ourselves. 

Therefore, be of good cheer and take all the household with you to church and there thank God both for what he has given us and for what he has taken from us and for what he has left us – which, if it pleases him, he can increase when he will; and if it pleases him to leave us yet less, so let it be at His pleasure.

While still in prison More wrote, “The brothers of Joseph could never have done him so much good with their love and favor as they did him with their malice and hatred. 

Nothing can come accept what God wills and I make me very sure that whatsoever that be, even if nothing has ever appeared so bad, it shall indeed be the best.”