Willmar tribune., 1900-02-28

LO1l.
affairs, and so was at liberty to accept call
elsewhere. must confess the call from Milton
was surprise to me. l have never been there
(you know do not believe in candidating for a
place.. and SO suppose their church committee
came up here to listen to me. Two years ago
nothing would have induced me to go to Milton.
Today it seems perfectly clear that the Lord says
to me. "Go." You know my natural inclination
is toward quiet, scholarly pastorate. Well,
Milton is, as you know, noisy, dirty, manufac
turning town, full Of workingmen, cursed with
saloons and black with coal smoke and unwashed
humanity. The church is quite strong in member
ship. The "Year Book" gives it 500 members last
year, and it is composed almost entirely of the
leading families in the place. What can do in
such church remains to be seen. My prede-
cessor there, Dr. Brown, was profound sermon
izer and generally liked, l believe He 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 church is
poor place in which to attempt different work.
| do not necessarily think so. The church of
Christ is in ITSELF l believe, 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 hui
manity. and ! am going to Milton with that
faith very strong in me-. feel as II very great
work could be done there. Think of it, Alfred!
A town of $4,000 workingmcn, half of them for
blast, town with seven churches of many differ
ent denominations all situated one street and
that street the most fashionable in the place, a
town where the police records show an amount OF
crime and depravity almost unparalleled in mu-
nicipal annals-surely such a place presents an
opportunity for the true church of Christ to do
some splendid work. / hope do not overestimate
the needs of the place. I have known the general
condition of things in Milton ever since: you and
| did our summer work in the neighboring town
of Clifton. If there was missionary ground
in America it is there. I cannot understand Just
why the call comes to me to go to place and
take up work that in many ways is so distasteful
to me. In sense shrink from it with SEN
sitiveness Which no one except my wife and you
could understand You know what an almost
ridiculous excess Of sensibility I have. 1t seems
sometimes impossible for me to do the work that
the active ministry of this age demands of a
1t almost kills me to know that am criti-
cised for all that say and do. And yet 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 aot loved by everybody and yet
know that ii speak the truth in my preaching
and speak it without regard to consequences some
one is sure to become offended and in the end
dislike me. think God never made man with
SO intense 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, How cold and un-
approachablc he is!'' when in reality love them
with warnings of heart. Now then, am going
to Milton with all this complex thought OF my
self, and yet. dear chum there is not the least
doubt after all that I ought to 60. hope that
in the rush of the work there shall be able to
forget myself, and then the work will stand out
prominent as it ought With all my doubts Of
myself never question the wisdom of entering
the ministry. have very positive assurance as
l work that am doing what ! ought to do. And
what can man ask more? am not dissatisfied
with the ministry, only with my own action with
in it. It is the nobest Of all professions. I feel
proud Of it every day Only it is SO great that it
makes man feel small when he steps inside.
Z Well, my wife is calling me down to tea. Let
me know. what you do: We shall move to Milton
next week, probably; SO, if you write, direct
there. As ever. your old churn. u ~ ~ Il
<.s PHILIP STRONG.
It was characteristic Of Philip that
in this letter he said nothing about his
call to Elmdale and did not tell his col
lege chum what salary was offered him
by the church at Milton. AS a matter
of fact, be really forgot all about every
thing, except the. one important event
Of his decision to go to Milton. He re-
garded it, and rightly so, as the most
serious step of his life, and while he
had apparently decided the matter very
quickly it was, in reality, the result Of
o deep conviction that he ought to go.
He was In the habit Of making his de.
|lisions rapidly This habit sometimes
led him into embarrass mistakes
md once in a great while resulted IN
humiliating reversals f.. opinion, SO
that people who did not know him
thought he was tickle and changeable.
In the present case Philip acted with
his customary quickness and knew
very well that his action was unalter-
able.
CHAPTER II
Within q week Philip Strong had
moved to Mil ton, as the church wished
him to occupy the pulpit at once. The
parsonage was q we'll planned house
next the church, and his wife soon
made every thing look yer homel like,
The first Sunday Yening after Philip
preached II N ton. for the ! first time,
Hhe chatted d with his over the
events of the day al. they sat before i
cheerful open fire Sin the large crate.
||sIt Was late IN the fall md the ights
WE'RE Hll1 m NM fisteft