A good neighbor, Chris, is of Dutch ancestry. She’s been following the fears I have posted on this blog related to undergoing chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer. She sent me the message below through e-mail. I shall take it to heart.

One of the last things my dad wrote (he died at age 93) was found in a notebook. My brother framed it, and I have it on the wall in my office. The saying, in Dutch, seems to rhyme and so Dad must have remembered it from somewhere (he had a pretty good memory for such things). I asked the priest at St. John’s in Ross, Calif. if it was a biblical reference about God not allowing us to bear more burdens than we could undertake. But the priest said he was not familiar with such a reference, and Fra Bart had a fantastic memory. I have a bible with cross references for specific words and I could not find anything quite like this saying under “burdens.”


“Een mens lijd dikwijla het meest,
door het lijden dat hij vreest,
dus heeft hij meer te dragen
dan God te dragen geeft.

Een leed dat is, is niet zoo zwaar
dan vrees voor allerei gevaar,
en komt het eens in huis
dan help God altijd mee te dragen naar zijn kruis.”

“A person's burden is often heaviest
for the suffering that he fears
thus he has more to bear
than God can give.

A sorrow that is, is not as heavy
than dreading all sorts of peril,
and if it once comes home
then God always helps one to bear the cross.”