El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-12-23

I same time long with yearn1ng that they
| might occur in his own parish. Certain
ly, never have seen a church SO signal
ly blessed by the Spirit as this one
But am I myself ready to take this
pledge7 I ask the question honestly, and
/ dread to face an honest answer.
know well enough that would have to
change very much in my life if under
took to follow his steps so closely. I
have called myself Christian for many
years For the past ten years I have
enjoyed life that has had compare
lively little suffering in it. I am-hon-
estly say it-Hving at long distance
from municipal problems and the life
of the poor, the degraded and the aban-
doned. What would the obedience to
this pledge demand of me2 hesitate to
answer. Ny church is wealthy, full of
well to do satisfied people. The stand
ard of their discipleship is, am aware,
not of a nature to respond to the call
to suffering or personal loss. I say, 4
am aware I may be mistaken. I may
have erred in not stirring their deeper
life. Caxton, my friend, I have spoken
my inmost thought to you. Shall I go
back to my people next Sunday and
stand up before them in my large city
church and say, Let us follow Jesus
closer; let us walk in his steps, where
it will cost us something more than it
is costing us now; let US pledge not to
do anything without first asking,
What would Jesus dor If should go
before them with that message, it would
be strange and startling one to them.
But why2 Are we not really to follow
him all the way? What is it to be a
follower of Jesus? What does it mean
to initiate him2 What does it mean to
walk in his steps 2''
The Rev. Calvin Bruce, D. D., of the
Nazareth Avenue church, Chicago, let
his pen fall on the paper. He had come
to the parting of the ways, and his
question, he felt sure, was the question
of many and many man in the min
istry and in the church. He went to his
window and opened it. He was OPP
pressed with the weight of his convic-
lions, and he felt almost suffocated with
the air of the room. He wanted to see
the stars and feel the breath of the
world.
The night was very still. The clock
in the First church was striking mid
night. AS it finished a clear, strong
voice down in the direction of the Rec
tangle came floating up to him as if
borne on radiant pinions:
''Must Jesus bear the cross alone
And all the world go free2
mol There's cross for every one,
And there's for me-"
It was the voice of one of Gray's old
converts, a night Waterman at the
packing houses, who sometimes solaced
his lonesome hours by verse or two
from some familiar hymn.
The Rev. Calvin Bruce turned away
from the window, and after little
hesitation he kneeled down. ,'What
would Jesus do2 What would Jesus
do2" Never had he yielded himself so
completely to the Spirits searching re-
vealing of Jesus. He was on his knees a
long time. He retired and slept fitfully,
with many awakenings He rose before
it was clear dawn and threw open his
window again. AS the light in the east
grew stronger he repeated to himself:
"What would Jesus dor What would
he dor Shall L follow his steps3''
The sun rose and flooded the city
with its power. When shall the dawn
of a new discipleship usher in the con-
quering triumph of a closer walk with
Jesus2 When shall Christendom tread
more closely the path he made2
1t is the way the Master trod
Shall not the servant tread it stiIl2
With this question throbbing through
his whole being the Rev. Calvin Bruce
went back TO Chicago, and the great
crisis of his Christian life in the min
istry suddenly broke irresistibly upon
him