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December 15, 1909. THE
CHRISTIAN THOUGHTFULNESS.
The other day a little book came to
me through the mall. I recognized the
hand that wrote the address. It was
from my friend and fellow minister
whom I love. The next mail brought this
letter- "The little book I send under
separ<>^ cover, if you have not already
seen it, will give you pleasant and prof
itable reading for thirty minutes. I enclose
postage for return when you have
read it at your convenience." That was
Just like him. Who ever heard of such
thoughtfulness? It was enough to have
thought of me and thought of sending
the book, but he even thought of the
postage. Well, I settled myself down
to enjoy that little book. It was "FootSteps
in a Parish," by John Timothy
Stone. Dr. John Timothy Stone succeded
Dr. Malbie D. Babcock as pastor
of the Brown Memorial church in Baltimore.
This booklet tells of some of
Dr. Babcock's foot-prints which Dr.
Stone ran across again and again in his
pastoral work. It is a splendid tribute
to Dr. Babcock. I should say that it did
give "pleasant and profitable reading for
thirty minutes." It brought new inspiration
that will make me want to be a
better preacher and pastor all the rest
of my life. Dr. Babcock was a wonderful
man. How winsome, how spiritual, how
inspiring!
apiui nuiu me gooa me dook aid me,
the thoughtfulness of my friend helped
me too. He has left me wishing that I
could think of nice things like that.
Moreover, I note on the fly leaf in the
back of the book a little system of book
keeping that leads me to. believe that I
am the twenty-third minister who has
been treated in this same thoughtful
way. That means that twenty-three ministers
are going to be better preachers
and pastors because of the thoughtfulness
of this one man. He has started
influences that he could not stop if he
would. They will probably reach to eter
uny 118611.
"Oh, the good we all may do,
While the days are going by."
W. L. L.
OUR LITTLE STRUGGLING WESTERN
CHURCHE8.
A little more than a year ago, a letter
from Selma., Ala., contained a great
many questions about the Rev. W. P. N.,
wanting to know his age, height, breadth
of shoulders, distance between the eyes,
tone of voice, etc. They were canvassing
his qualifications, with a view to a
call to the pastorate. I answered the
letter, by saying that he would probably
fill their bill perfectly; but that he was
uuiiib a guuu uuu important worn wnicn
it would be a sin, not to say a crime, to
break up. Moreover, that, until recently,
they had had all the Seminaries on that
side of the Mississippi river, and they
had allowed no young man of promise
to come west at all, if they could possibly
prevent it. And then continued:
"Now .turn your eyes to the rising sun,
and get you a pastor over there; and let
these poor, little, struggling, western
i PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOU!
churches alone." The idea conveyed by
these words had taken complete possession
of my mind, and given it a pessimistic
tinge with regard to the outlook
for Presbyterianism in Texas.
But since the beginning of the present
year, I have traveled extensively through
the region occupied by our churches, attended
their preaching services, Sunday
schools, and prayer meetings, and visited
among their members. I reached the
town of S about ten o'clock Saturday
night. Sunday morning, after breakfast
at the hotel, I inquired for the Presbyterian
church. Out of a dozen men
standing around, men who lived there,
not one could tell me where the church
was, nor, indeed, whether there was such
an one there. After a good long search,
I found the church, hunted up the pas
tor, ana tola mm or my trouble. I then
told him of my letter to the Selma, Ala.,
man and made an ad hominem application
of it. I said: "You have gotten the
idea that you represent one of these
poor, little, struggling, western churches,
and it has taken such complete possession
ox you that you are afraid to hold
up your head and assert yourself. Change
your gait, put on an aggressive front,
and make yourself heard and felt. There
is never any difllculty in finding a Camp
bellite, a Methodist or a Baptist church.
iweryDociy Knows where they are from
the start." I then felt sure that my
characterization was correct. But I went
on to the next town where I found the
situation changed. A live, active pastor
ministered to a live, active, working
church. I went as far west as Toyah,
eighteen miles west of the Pecos river,
up through Carlsbad and Roswell, New
Mexico, and through the Pan Handle region
home. What I saw gave me a new
outlook, and a courage to go forward. At
Amarillo Rev. Mr. Ivey ministers to a
church, not very large, indeed, but in
good working condition. The morning
that I was with them, the question ot
more commodious quarters was up for
consideration. They had either to build
a larger house of worship or enlarge
me one mey were in. it being decided
to enlarge the old one, a call was made
for seven hundred dollars, the amount
thought necessary to do the work. In a
few minutes, perhaps not more than fifteen,
the money was in sight, ltemember,
none of these churches are rich, and
but few of their members have any considerable
amount of monev or nronertv:
but, like the inhabitants of Jerusalem in
Nehemiah's day, the people had a mind
to work. At Childress, where Bro. Hall
had a little band, he had gone to work
with a will and in the first three months
of his pastorate his congregation had
grown to respectable proportions, nineteen
members had been added to his
roll, and every one wore on his face a
hopeful smile. And so on all the rest of
my way.
Starting out again in September
through the Churches in the southern
part of the State, though none of the
Churches are very large, with the exception
of those In Houston, Galveston, San
Antonio and Austin, all seem to be In
earnest and accomplishing good results.
*
?H. 15
One church in Houston had. established
Ave mission stations, and today, I am
informed, has added two more to the
list. At Navasota I was somewhat anx
ious, because I had an idea that the pas
tor, whom I knew and esteemed very
highly, was not exactly onmiinp
chanced that I fell in with a man who
did not like him, and from him I got an
unfavorable account. But, Sunday morn
ing, I went to his Sunday .school, and
found the house filled with pupils varying
in age from six years old to sixty.
At the preaching service the auditorium
was comfortably filled, and the Westminster
League was attended by about thirty,
supposedly from eighteen to twenty
five years old each taking an active part
in the exercises, and I said to myself.
"What a training school he has here for
church work." I concluded that he might
not be popular, but that some body was
doing a good work there. And so it has
been where I have gone.
These poor, little, struggling, western
churches are no longer such in any disreputable
sense. They are a live, active
force, doing the Lord's work. I am no
longer a pessimist, but an optimist of the
first rank. Henceforth, my battle cry is
"The Lord is in his holy temple, and
will surely accomplish all his holy will."
Let the church arise in her might, put
on her armor and go forward, "Conquering
and to conquer." W. Y. C.
CHAT WITH MOTHERS.
And there are so many with needs so
different. Some careless and superficial,
some foolish and ienornnt o ?
-w ?? ? m vurn^ai a*
tively few wise, living near the standard
of ideal motherhood. But whether included
in the classes mentioned or outside,
there are busy, tired mothers, bearing
the heat and burden of the day, to
which is often added, alas! a heavy
weight upon the heart. It is to these
loyal, at times discouraged, women 1
would speak a word of comfort, and I
hope, relief.
"It is so easy to advise," they may reply,
"you who are at a distance and cannot
understand my needs. My cares and
grievances, if they exist, are wnolly my
own, unlike other people's."
But, dear mother, you are mistaken,
although you may not see it. You are
perhaps right in claiming your burden,
whatever It mnv ho ?n
J MU uiutiu\/ HJ JUUI
own, but it is a part of the common lot
as well; no person is so separated from
the human family as to be beyond the
sympathetic appreciation of their kind,
and although ills differ in variety, the
"touch of nature maaes the whole world
kin." Weary, perhaps weak, you are weaving
for your future a crown, and upon
you depends whether it be of Jewels or
thorns. The dally trifles which seem
so worthless of consideration today are
VPAVlnor infA A# I ? ?? *
...e, ii<tu uauiui ui liiuiif HMurauie
force tomorrow.
The word consideration seems to me a
good one, involving, as it does, possibly
a life of pain and misery for somebody.?
Ellen Woods Coombs, in The New York
Observer.