Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1910-11-30
Near to Nature and to God.

In the very heart of the Seven
Mountains. on the rim of the Big Ket-
tie, miles from civilization and amid
the very widest scenery of Pennsyl-
vania, a congregation of 1O2 men, clad
in hunting costume and carrying their
rifles, representing ten camps within Il
radius of 20 miles. gathered at Harry
Reeds hunting camp. at Bear Spring,
Nov. q, to listen to a sermon by Rev.
Harold McAfee Robinson, of Bear
Lake, Mimi, from the text, "Nimrod
vas a mighty hunter before the Lord"
Two years ago, Rev. Mr.. Robinson,
formerly pastor of the Milroy, Pa,
Presbyterian church, concluded TO take
a post graduate course at Princeton
College. His friend, Mr.. Harry Reed,
made him promise that ne would spend
a week with him this fall in the hunt
ing camps, whereupon Mr. Robinson
added, Harry, I'll do better yet. I'll
not only come, but I'll preach the SER
mon of my life on my first Sunday in
camp And the men who had gath
cred there, when he took up his posi-
ton in the door OF the camp tent
men from every walk in life, and from
almost every section of Pennsylvania,
as we'll as from five other states-were
unit in saying that the sermon which
followed the strains of Old Hundred
floating across that broad expanse of
wood. perhaps for the first time. was
the best they had ever heard, and
some Of the men confessed it was the
first service they had attended in ten
years.
Near to Nature, in a church of Gods
own construction, were these men i'm
pressed with Truth. They had come
10 hunt and Stay Gods speechless
creatures and out of the mountain top
came a voice proclaiming His message
Of peace and good will toward men
No doubt many Of these men were
more deeply impressed than it would
have been possible to impress them in
an edifice constructed especially for
the worship of God, even could they
have been persuaded to attend such
service. But here under the blue
dome of heaven. surrounded by every
influence that calls men toward the
rrimordial. they listened and under
stood and it sounded good to them.
In our own beloved State is vast,
almost uncultivated, field awaiting the
Christian lowman-the logging and
driving camps of the far north woods
and streams. There the soil is fertile
and receptive for the seed of Christian
fellowship. Priests of the Roman
Catholic faith appear in the smoke
filled camps once or twice during the
winter and talk quietly with the
boys" but the sermon and music, re-
sounding through the arches of the
great forest. that touch the souls of
men are not there.
a speaker before an Augusta audi
cnce few evenings ago told of almost
unbelievable conditions in some of
our Maine logging camps. He was
prepared to prove his assertions that
the tabled Wild West mining town of
IA quarter century ago hardly exceeded
in wirkedncss camp villa he had
visited-liquor, gambling, robbery and
all other crimes including probable
murder.
The Y. Nj. c. A. hopes to deal with
such conditions after q time. but while
We arc contributing money to convert
the heather to another faith than their
own, and arc sacrificing the brave lives
of missionaries there, ought we not to
add few pennies toward bailing out
the souls from the dens of iniquity in
our own back yard? a few Rev. Rob-
insons carrying truth back to natures
realm might prove winning play in
the stake of eternity