the other side

"It was not by gentle sweetness and womanly self-abnegation that she brought order out of chaos in the Scutari hospitals, that from her own resources she had clothed the British Army, that she had spread her dominion over the serried and reluctant powers of the official world; it was by strict method, by stern method, by rigid attention to detail by cease-less labour, by the fixed determination of an indomitable will. Beneath her cool and calm demeanor, there lurked fierce and passionate fires. "(Lytton Strachey on Florence Nightingale, in 'Spirtual Leadership')

I was surprised to read this description of Florence Nightingale. In my impression, she was a gentle, kind-hearted and noble angel whom started the nursing profession. What I did not realise is the hard discipline required of the lady in white.  And isn't it so in our lives?  A good performance or a job well done is the result of labour and intentional working out of what God has given us. 
 

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