Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1900-02-22
"Iam c0Rrlaced that / must 90 to Nil
tam %


Affairs. and SO / was at liberty TO accept a cali
elsewhere. J must confess the call from Milton
was Il surprise TO noe. ! hlge never been there
tyou know J do not believe in eaniidIting for a
place., and so ] suppose their church committee
came up here % listen TO me. Two years ago
nothing would have induced me to 60 to Milton,
Today it seems perfectly clear that the Lord says
to me, go" Son know my natural inclination
Is toward a quiet scholarly Past1rate. Well,
Milton is, az yQu know a noisy dirty, manuiac.
turning town, fun OF workingmen, cursed with
saloons and black with eaal smoke and unwashed
humanity, The church Is quite strong In member.
ship. The Year Book gives 1t 500 members last
year, and it is composed almost entirely OF the
leading families in the place. What | can do in
such church remains 10 be seem My prcde-
cessor there, DIR. Brown, was profound sermon
izer and generally liked, / believe. lie was
man Of the old school and made no attempt. |
understand, to bring the church into contact with
the masses. You will say that such a church is
poor place in which TO attempt a different work.
! do not necessarily think so. The church Of
Christ is in itself / believe, a powerful engine to
set in motion against all evil. / have great faith
in the membership Of almost any church in this
country to accomplish wonderful things for hu-
manity, and / am going 10 Milton with that
faith very strong in me / feel as if a very great
work could be dene there. Think OF il, Alfred
A town Of $1,000 workingmen, half Of them for
cigners; a town with more than 90 saloons in full
blast a town with seven churches Of many differ
ent denominations all situated on one street and
that street the most fashionable In the place, a
town where the police records show an amount %
crime and depravity almost unparalleled in mu-
nicipll handsomely such a place presents an
opportunity for the true church Of Christ 10 do
some splendid work hope DO not Qyerestimato
the needs o. the place. ! have known the general
condition Of things IN Milton ever since yoG and
| aid cur summer work in the neighboring town
Of Clifton. II ever there was missionary ground
n America. y Is tho. cannot understand just
Why the call comics to me 10 ~ to a place and
take up wors that in many ways is 30 dstastctul
to me. In one sense | shrink from IL with q sem
sityeness which no one except my wife and YOU
could understand. You know what an almost
ridiculous excess q scnsiblity ! have. It seems
sometimes impossible for me 10 do the work that
the active ministry " this age demands OF a
man, II almost kills me to know that | am criti-
Cised f0I an that / say and do. And vet | know
that the ministry will always be the target for
criticism. ! have an almost morbid shrinking
from the thought that people do not like me,
that | am not loved by everybody, and yet |
know that II | speak the truth in my preaching
and speak II without regard to consequences some
one Is sure 10 become offended and IN the end
dislike me. I think God never made a man with
intense a craving for the love Of his fellow
men as | possess and yet ] am conscious that
cannot make myself understood by very many
people. They will always say, 'IIow cold and un.
approachablc he is"' when in reality ] love them
with warnings Of heart. Now, then, am going
90 Milton with all this complex thought - my
self, aud yet, dear Chum, there is not the least
doubt after all that ought to go. ! hope that
in the rush Of the work there I shall be able 70
forget myself, and then the work will stand out
prominent as il ought. with all my doubts Of
1 a5fa9rFrt of Farin
the ministry. / have a very positive assurance as
! work that | am doing what ought 70 do. And
what can a man ssk morel ! am not dissatisfied
with the ministry, only with my own action with
in it, Il Is the n0bl1st Of all professions ] feel
proud Of IL ever day Only q is great that il
makes man feel small when he steps inside
Well, my wife is calling me down 70 tea. Let
me know what you do. We shall move to Milton
next week, probably; 80, il you write, direct
there. As ever, your old chum,
PHuR sraoya.
1t was characteristic of Philip that
in this letter he said nothing about his
call to Elmdale ana did not tell his col
lege chum what salary was offered him
by the church at Milton. As a matter
of fact, he really forgot all about every
thing. except the one important event
Of his decision 70 so to Milton. He rg-
garded it, and rightly SO, as the most
serious step Of his life, and while he
had apparently decided tie matter very
quickly It was, in reality, the result "
q deep conviction that he ought to 90.
He was in the habit Of making his de-
c!sions rapidly. This habit sometimes
led him into embarr0 ssing mistakes
and once in a great while resulted IN
hCmil.ating reversals of opinion, so
that people who did not know him
thought he was tickle and changeable.
In the present case Philip acted with
his customary qulckness and knew
very well that his ect!on was unalter-
able.