The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1899-10-04
BY Charles M. Sheldon.


seat, and he now remained standing,
leaning on his pulpit, looking down at
the stranger. 1t was the man who had
come to his house Friday morning, the
same dusty, worn, shabby looking
young man. He held his faded hat in
his two hands. 1t seemed TO be a ia
vorite gesture He had not been shaved,
and his hair was rough and tangled 1t
was doubtful if any one like this had
ever confronted the First church within
the sanctuary. 1t was tolerably familiar
with this sort of humanity out on the
street, around the railroad shops, wan
dering up and down the avenue, but it
had never dreamed of such an incident
as this SO near.
There was nothing offensive in the
mans manner or tone. He was not ex-
cited and he spoke in low but dis
tinct voice. Henry Maxwell was con-
scious even as he stood there smitten
into dumb establishment at the event,
that somehow the man S action remind
ed him of person he had once seen
walking and talking in his sleep.
No one in the church made any mo-
ton to stop the stranger or in any way
interrupt him Perhaps the first shock
of his sudden appearance deepened into
genuine perplexity concerning what
was best TO do However that may be,
he went on as if he had no thought of
interruption and no thought of the I'M
usual element he had introduced into
the decorum Of the First church service,
oil no xr~h no l-lY1
Henry Maxwell leaned over the pulpit,
his face growing more white and sad
every moment. But he made no move
ment to stop him, and the people sat
smitten into breathless silence. One
other face, that of Rachel Winslow,
from the choir seats, stared, white and
intent, down at the shabby figure with
the faded hat Her face was striking at
any time. Under the pressure of the
present unheard of incident it was as
personally distinct as if it had been
framed in fire.
81 IN not an ordinary tramp, though
l don't know of any teaching of Jesus
that makes one kind Of "a tramp less
worth saving than another. Do your"
He put the question as naturally as If
the whole congregation had been a
small private Bible class He paused
just moment and coughed painfully.
Then he went on.
Il lost my job ten months ago. l am
a printer by trade The new linotype
machines are beautiful specimens of
invention, but ] know six men who
have killed themselves inside of the
year just on account of those machines.
OF course don { blame the newspapers
for getting the machines. Meanwhile
what can man do2 | know l never
learned but the one trade, and that S
all | can do. I've tramped all over the
country trying to find something There
are a good many others like me. I'm
not complaining, am II Just stating
facts. But / was wondering, as | sat
there under the gallery, if what you
call following Jesus is the same thing
as what he taught.
"What did he mean when he said,
Follow me- The minister said here
the man turned about and looked up at
the pulpit-"that it was necessary for
the disciple of Jesus TO follow his steps,
and he said the steps were obedience,
faith, love and imitation. But / did
not hear him tell just what he meant
that TO mean especially the last step.
What do Christians mean by following
the steps of Jesus2 I've tramped
through this city for three days trying
TO find a job and in all that time I've
not had a word of sympathy or comfort
said he was sorry for me and hoped |
would find job somewhere. l suppose
il is because you get so imposed on by
the professional tramp that you have
lost your interest in the other sort. / IN
not blaming anybody, am ? just stat
ing facts CT course / understand you
can t all go out of your way to hunt up
jobs for people like me. IN not asking
you to, but what / feel puzzled about is
what is meant by following Jesus Do
you mean that you are suffering and
denying yourselves and trying to save
lost suffering humanity just as / I'M
derstand Jesus did What do you mean
by it, i see the ragged edge of things
good deal / understand there are
more than 500 men in this city in my
case. Most of them have families. My
wife died four months ago. I'm glad
she is out Of trouble. My little girl is
staying with a printers family until ]
find JOB. Somehow l get puzzled
when ] see so many Christians living
in luxury and singing, Jesus, I my
cross have taken, all to leave and fol-
low thee, and remember how my wife
died in tenement in New York city,
gasping for air and asking God to take
the little girl too. OF course don't ex-
pect you people can prevent every one
from dying of starvation, lack of proper
nourishment and tenement air. But
what does following Jesus meant 1
understand that Christian people own
good many of the tenements. A mem
Der of church was the owner of the
one where my wife died, and I have
wondered if following Jesus all the
way was true in his case. heard some
people singing at church prayer meet
ing the other night,
Gan for Jeeua al for Joo,,s