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To the Mother Prioress of a Contemplative Order
Reverend Mother, 26 March 1960
Many thanks for your kind report about Father Victor!
I am still shaken by this stroke of fate which has felled him.
According to the experience and knowledge of medical science the verdict seems to be absolute, yet, in order to do justice to your faith, I must say that I know (and have seen myself) of certain similar cases where an apparently miraculous recovery took place.
There is a 1:x probability of an unaccountable cure.
I would share your standpoint of undaunted faith if I were not disturbed by the thought that this earthly life is not supreme, but subject to the decrees of a superior economy.
I try to accept life and death.
Where I find myself unwilling to accept the one or the other I should queson myself as to my personal motives. . . .
Is it the divine will?
Or is it the wish of the human heart which shrinks from the Void of death?
We should not only have a more or less complete understanding of ourselves but also of the way in which we are related to our fellow beings and of their nature.
Our moral freedom reaches as far as our consciousness, and thus our liberation from compulsion and captivity.
In ultimate situations of life and death complete understanding and insight are of paramount importance, as it is indispensable for our decision to go or to stay and let go or to let stay.
Since I had your letter, I have heard that the truth has been told to Victor White (which I hoped for fervently) and, as far as I know, the effect has been all to the good.
There is such a thing as tempus maturum mortis [The time is ripe]and it is up to our understanding to fulfill its conditions.
Sincerely yours,
C.G. Jung
Carl Jung, Letters Vol. II, Pages 546-547
