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About Oregon City courier=herald. (Oregon City, Or.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 1901)
Bf HIS STEPS. -!What Would Jesus Do?" :3y OHAELES M. SHELDON. prjjitacpyW?i'te3 nd published In book form by . ..i.tho jliiranco Publishing Co. of Chicago. , CHAPTER L F rttt'brrrmtt) were ye called; because Christ ' oMufi!rtfl' for you, leaving you an example, . tiimc ya shonW follow his steps. ! It waurFriiittp morning, and the Rev. Henry Maxwell was trying to -finish his Smiday morning sermon. He had been interrupted .several times and was A -growing nervons as the morning wore way and the. sermon grew very slowly T:.r t""r' .. . iuuiy, ue cuiiea to nis wire as ne went up stairs after the last interrnp- f ation,-"ii any one comes after this I - -wish ;yon would say that I am very :tesy nn'd cannot come down unless it ... is something very important. " ' -"Yes. Henry. But I am going over - visit the kindergarten, and you will ,v liave the honse all to yourself. The. minister went up into his study t and shut the door. In a few minutes j he tieard his wife go out. lie settled himself at his desk with a igh Of relief and began to write. His .' toscrt was from i Peter ii, 21. "'For hereunto were ye called; be viranse Christ also suffered for you, leav : tajg you an example, that ye should fol , Sow ,'his steps. " Se had emphasized in the first part iHt ihis sermon the atonement as a per . Monal sacrifice, calling attention to the ffact of Josns' suffering in various ways, '. jbd his life as well as in his death. He i gone on to emphasize the atone- ' ttnent from the side of example, giving : illustrations from the life and teaching Jf Jesus to show how faith in the Christ Safiped to save men because of the pat- Ebsrn or -character he displayed for Jheir : ikuitntion. He was now on the third vamd laBt point, the necessity of follow i. ang Jesus in his sacrifice and example. .'ille.had just put down, "(8) Steps - .tfhnt are they?" and was about to enumerate them in logical order when .-.the bell rang sharply. It was one of stlioee. clockwork bells and always went lff bs a clock might go if it tried to ttrike 12 all at once. "Henry Maxwell sat at his dosk and .frowned a little. He made no move rmcmt to answer the boll. Very soon it . rang again. Then he rose and walked ;wr to one of his windows, which com- aoanded a view of the front door. A man was standing on the steps. He wan young man very shabbily dressed. -f 'Looks like a tramp," said the mln t iter. -'.'I auiJpose I'll have to go down, i. ftTid" no did not finish the sentence, bnt t- went down stairs and opened the front v5irrr. There was a moment's pause as the r two men stood facing each other. Then -the shabby looking young man said: Ttn out of a job, sir, and thought ;maybo you might put me in the way of ..getting something. " 'I don't know of anything. Jobs are r scarce, " ..replied the minister, begin :;nh)g to Shut the door slowly. ""I didn't .know but you might per 'Jwps be able to give me a lino to the - -my railway or superintendent of the t . shops or soniothing, " continued the young man, shifting his faded hat from .. wno hand to the other nervously. "It would be of no use. You will ?,"uive to excuse me. I am very busy this -.-.morning. I hope you will find some .tb.ing. Horry I can't give you Bome (tfaing to do hero. But I keep only a iborso and a cow and do the work my oir. " The Rev. Henry Maxwell closed Ihe . door and hoard the man walk down the . nfc'ps. As ho wont up into his study he saw from his hall window that the uum - was f,'oing slowly down the street, still ' koldin; his lint between his hands. ' There was soniothing in the figure so - defected, homeless nnd forsaken that -., thw minister hesitated a moment as he vuxl looking at it. Then ho turned to 'iiia -desk and with a sigh began the svTiting whore ho had loft off. llo had no more intornn,tim.s,1 when his wife came in two hours later the sermon was finished, and the looso leaves wore gathered np and neatly tied 'together and laid on his Bible, all ready tor the Sunday morning service. "'A queer thing happened at the kin dergarten this morning, Henry, "said his wife while they were eating dinner. You know. I went over with Mrs. Crown to visit the school, and just aft ttr tho games, while the children were t the tabU's. the door opened, nnd a jsnng man came in, holding a dirty hut in both hands. Ho sat down near die door and never said a word, only .'.looked at the children. Ho was evident ly n tramp, and Miss Wren and her as sistant. Miss Kyle, wore a little fright nfl tvt first, but ho sat there very jniotly, nnd after a few minutes he WfVlt out" "Perhaps he was tired and wanted to rest somewhere. ' The same man railed here. 1 think. Did you say he .tijo'iod like a tramp?' "Yes. very dusty, shabby and gener ally .tramplike not more than 80 or 83 years old, I should say " "The same man," said the Rev Monry Maxwell thoughtfully. "Did yon finish your sermon, Hon y K" his wife asked after n pause. "Yos. nil done. It has beeu a very fea.y week with mo. The two sermons et no a good deal of labor. " They will 1h) appreciated by a large r fcntlienee tomorrow, 1 hope." replied fev wife, smiling "What aro yon go Jan to preach rImhU iu the morning?" "Following Christ 1 take up tho atonement nnder the heads of sacrifice ! and example and then show the stens j , , ,. v " f 1 needed to follow his sacrifice and ex- ample. T . , i am sure it is a good sermon. rZ Sr wbnr'ri Pe?le Rev Hp Jv M,Jn b8"31- v T-l ft ZZlZt 1? a8 ?eiTd LnrrJ f C-Ieful,la' borious efforts he had made in prepar- ing sermons for. large audiences that failed to appear. But, Sunday morning dawned on the town of Raymond one of those perfect days that sometimes come afteV long periods of wind and rsia and mud. The air was clear and bracing, the sky was free from all threatening signs, and ev- rr,minHT,,rMoii'0 ni, wife.i: c ri "':r.:rr;r.. t"" 6 im,uun,u. v ucu iiit service opened at 11 o'clock, the large building was lined witn an audience of the best dressed, most comfortable looking peo- P in aymona. The First church of Raymond be lieved in having the best music that money could buy, and its quartet choir this morning was a great source of pleasure to the congregation. The an them was inspiring. All the music was in keeping with the subject of the ser mon. And the unthem was an elaborate adaptation to the most modern music, of the hymn : Jesua, I my crosa have taken. All to leave and follow thee. Just before the sermon the soprano sang a solo, the well known hymn ; Where he leada me I will follow. I'll go with him, with him all the way. Rachel Winslow looked very beauti ful that morning as she stood up be hind the screen of carved oak which was significantly marked with the em Hums of the cross and the crown. Her voice was even more beautiful than her face, and that meannt a great deal. There was a general rustle of expecta tion over the audience as she arose. Henry Maxwell settled himself content edly behind the pulpit. Rachel Wins low's singing always helped him. He generally arranged for a song before the sermon. It made possible a certain inspiration of feeling that he knew made his delivery more impressive. .. People said to themselves they had never heard such singing even in the First church. It is certain that if it had not been a church service her solo would have been vigorously applauded. It even seemed to Henry Maxwell when she sat down that something like an at tempted clapping of hands or striking of feet on the floor swept through the church. He was startled by it As he rose, however, and laid his sermon on the open Bible he said to himself he, had been deceived. Of course it could not occur. In a few moments he was absorbed in his sermon, and everything else was forgotten in the pleasure of the delivery. No one had ever accused Henry Max well of being a dull preacher. On the contrary, he had often been charged with being sensational, not in what he said so much as in his way of saying it But the First church people liked that. It gave their preacher and their parish a pleasant distinction that was agreeable. It was also true that the pastor of the First church loved to preach. He seldom exchanged He was eager to be in his own pulpit when Sunday came. There was an exhilarating half hour for him as he stood facing a church full of people and knew that he had a hear ing. He was peculiarly sensitive to variations in the attendance. He never preached well before a small audience The weather also affected him decided? ly. He was at his best before just such an audience as faced him now, on just such a morning He felt a glow of sat isfaction as he went on. The church was the first in the city. It had the best choir. It had a membership composed of the loading people, representatives of the wealth, society and intelligence of Raymond. He was going abroad on a three months' vacation in the sum mer, and the circumstances of his pas torate, his influence and his position as pastor of the first church in the city It is not certain that the Rev. Henry Maxwell know just how ho could curry on all that thought in connection with his sermon, but as ho drew near the end of it he know that he had at some point in his delivery had all these feel- "'?s. ma entered into the very nis nonirnt. ft miifnt have beeu all in a few seconds of time, bnt ho had been conscious of defining hia position and his emotions as well as if he had hold a soliloquy, and his de livery partook of the thrill of deep per sonal satisfaction The sermon was interesting. It was full of striking sentences. They would have commanded attention printed. Spokeii with the passion of a dramatic utterance that had the good taste never to offend with a suspicion of ranting or declamation, they wore very effective. If the Rev. Henry Maxwell that morn ing felt satisfied with tho conditions of his pastorate, the parish of First church also had n similar fooling ns it congrat ulated itself on the presence in the pul pit of this scholarly, refined, somewhat striking face and tigwe. preaching with such animation and freedom from all vulgar, noisy or disagreeable man nerism. Suddenly, into the midst of this per fect accord and concord between preach er and audience, there came n very re markable interruption. It would be difficult to indicate the extent of tho shock which this interruption measured. It was so unexpected, so entirely con trary to any thought of any person present, that it offered no room for argument or, for tho time being, of re sistance. The sermon hnd come to a close. The Rev. Henry Maxwell had turned the half of tho big Bible over upon his manuscripts and was about to sit down as the quartet prepared to rise and slug the closing selection, OREGON CITY COURIER-HERALD. All tor Jesus, all tor Jesus, All my being's ransomed powers, '. , ' i u . . . when the entire congregation ' aaA v th, . was star tled by the sound of a man's voice. It iaiiiu uum fciio imi tuo cuuruu, xroin I nn-mn f 4-1 41. - 1 1- Betae the startled congregation real- ized what being done thfe man had reached the open space in front of the P-Pit and had toned abont. facing the people i i , , , . i vo uwu wuuucrmg since i came in here they were the words he used T fl' . Wea tram 1 "n , 2 TI f l " 8ervicftJ1 l m n . a . m n f!J a?.d 1 m ?ffeCt y Armless. But if I die as ' lm;re 18 every imeiinooa l snail in a few days, i want the satisfaction of thinking that I said my say in a place like this, before just this sort of a crowd." I Henry Maxwell had not taken his ' seat, and he now remained standing, leaning on his pulpit, looking down at the stranger. It 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. It seemed to be a fa vorite gesture. He bad not been shaved, and his hair was rough and tangled. ' It i was doubtful if any one like this had I ever confronted the First church within I the sanctuary. It was tolerably familiar ' with this sort of humanity out on the street, around tne railroad shops, wan dering up and down the avenue, but it had never dreamed of snch an incident as this so near. ' There was nothing offensive in the man's manner or tone. He was not ex cited, and he spoke in a low but dis tinct voice. Henry Maxwell was con scious, even as he stood there smitten into dumb astonishment at the event, that somehow the man's action remind ed him of a person he had once seen walking and talking in his sleep. No one in the church made any mo tion 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 un usual element he had introduced into the decorum of the First church service, and all the while he was speaking 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 flra "I'm not an ordinary tramp, though I don't know of any teaching of Jesus that makes one kind of a tramp less worth saving than another. Do you?" He put the question as naturally as if the whole congregation had been a small private Bible class. He paused just a moment and coughed painfully Then he went on. "I lost my job ten months ago. I am a printer by trade. The new linotype machines are beautiful specimens of invention, but I know six men who have killed themselves inside of the year just on account of those machines. Of course I don't blame the newspapers for getting the machines. Meanwhile what can a man do ? I ' know I never learned but the one trade, and that's all I 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 I? Just stating facts. But I was wondering, as I sat there under the gallery, if what you call following Jesus is the same thing as what he taught. i "What did he mean when he said. 'Follow met' The minister said'' here the man turned about and looked up at the pulpit "that it was necessary for the disciplo of Josus to follow his steps, and he said the steps were obedience, faith, love and imitation. But I did not hear him tell just what he meant that to mean, especially the last step What do Christians mean by following the stops of Jesus? 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 except from your minister here, who said he was sorry for me and hoped I would find a job somewhere. I suppose it is because you get so imposed on by the professional tramp that yon have lost your interest in the other sort. I'm not blaming anybody, am I? Just stat ing facts. Of course I understand you can't all go out of your way to hunt up jobs for people like me. I'm not asking you to. but what I feel puzzled about is what is meant by following Jesus. Do yon mean that yon are suffering and denying yourselves and trying to save lost suffering humanity just as I un derstand Jesus did? What do yon mean by it ? I see the ragged edge of things a good deal. I understand there are more than 500 men in this city in my case. Most of them have families My wife died four mouths ago. I'm glad she is out of trouble. My little girl is staying with a printer's family until I find a job. Somehow I get puzzled , when I 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 a tenement in New York city, gasping for air and asking God to take : the little girl too. Of course I don't ex pect yon people can prevent everv one ! from dying of starvation, lack of proper ' Passive. He talked with considerable j nourishment nnd tenement air. But hesitation. It was evident that some ' what does following Jesus mean ? I ' Krent ill' struggled in his thought for ; understand that Christian people own utterance, bnt it was not expressed in a good many of the tenements. A mem- j ,Ue theme he had chosen for his preach j lnr of a chnrch was the owner of tho j ,nS- 14 ws 'r the close of hia sermon one where my wifo died, and I have j tuftt ll 'san to gather a certain 1 wondered if following Jesus all the strength that had been painfully lack- FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, way was true In his case. I heard some people singing at a church prayer meet ing the other night, "All for Jesua, all for Jesus, All my being's ransomed powers, All my thoughts and all my doings, All my days and all my hours, "and I kept wondering, as I sat on the steps outside, just what they meant by it. It seems to me there's an awful lot of trouble in the world that some how wouldn't exist if all the people who sing snch songs went and lived them ont I. suppose I don't under stand. . But what would Jesns do ? Is that what you mean by following his steps?' It seems to me sometimes as if the people in the city churches had good clothes and nice houses to live in, and money to spend for luxuries, and could go away on summer vacations end all that, while the people outside of the churches, thousands of them, I mean, die in tenements, and walk the streets for jobs, and never have a piano or a picture in the house, and grow np in misery and drunkenness and sin. " The man gave a queer lurch over in the di rection of the communion table and laid one grimy hand on it. His hat fell upon the carpet at his feet. A stir went through the congregation. Dr. West half rose from his seat, bnt as yet the silence was unbroken by any voice or movement worth mentioning in the audience. The man passed his other hand across his eyes and then, without any warning, fell heavily forward on his face, full length, up the aisle. Henry Maxwell spoke, "We will con sider the service dismissed." He was down the pulpit stairs and kneeling by the prostrate form before any one else. The audience instantly rose, and the aisle was crowded. Dr. West pro nounced the man alive. He had fainted away. "Some heart trouble," the doctor also muttered as he helped to carry him into the pastor's study.' Henry Maxwell and a group of his church members remained some time in the study. The man lay on the couch there and breathed heavily. , When the question of what to do with him came np, the minister insisted upon taking him to his house. He lived near by and had an extra room. Rachel Winslow said: "Mother has no company at pres ent I am sure we would be glad to give him a place with us. " She looked strangely agitated. No one noticed it particularly. They were all excited over the strange event, the strangest that First church people could remember. But the minister insisted on taking charge cf the man, and when a carriage came the unconscious but living form was carried to his house, and with the entrance of that humanity into the minister's Bpare room a new chapter in Henry Maxwell's life began, and yet no one, himself least of all, dreamed of the remarkable change it was destined to make in all his after definition of Chris tian discipleship. The event created a great sensation in the First chnrch parish. People talked of nothing else for a week. It was the general impression that the man had wandered into the church in a condition of mental disturbance caused by his troubles and that all the time he was talking he was in a strange de lirium of fever and really ignorant of his surroundings. That was the most charitable construction to put upon his action. It was the general agreement also that there was a singular absence of anything bitter or complaining in what the man had said. He had through out spoken in a mild, apologetic tone, almost as if he were one of the congre gation seeking for litht ou a verv diffi cult snb.ioi't The third day .,; l. iv..:. -..,! the minister's horse -:. v: :i i;r r'-r d change in his ci:'. ,.-u ri'. ii:c...r spoke of it and i.ili ini i Ur.. S;.trr day morniii he still l.ii -eu r1.. although he had nightly failed us the voek drew near to its close Hundny morning just before the clock struck 1 he rallied and asked if his child had come The min ister had sent for her as soon as he had been able to secure her address from some letters found in the man's pocket. He had been conscious and able to talk coherently only a few moments since his attack. "The child is coming. She will be here, " Henry Maxwell said as he sat there, his face showing marks of the strain of the week's vigil, for he had insisted on sitting up nearly every night. "I shall never see her in this world," the man whispered. Then he uttered with great difficulty the words: "You have been good to' me. Somehow 1 feel as if it was what Jesus would do." After a few moments he turned, his head slightly, and before Henry Max well could realize the fact the doctor said. ."He is gone. " The Sunday morning that (irwnrd on the city of Raymond was oxi.ttiy likv the Sunday of the week before Hom y Maxwell entered his pulpit to face one of the largest congregations that had ever crowded First church. He was haggard and looked as if he had just risen from a long illness. His wife was at home with the little girl who hud come on the morning train an hour aft er her father died. He lay iu that spare room, his troubles over, and Henry Maxwell could see the face as he opened the Bible and arranged his different notices on the side of the desk as ho had been in the habit of doing for ten years. The service that morning continued a new element No cue could remombei when tho minister had preached in the morning without notes. As a matter of fact, he had done so occasionally when he first entered the ministry, but for a long time ho had carefully written out every word of his morning sermon and nearly always his evening discourse as well. It cannot be said that his sermon this morning was very striking or im- 1901. ingat the beginning. He closed the . uenfy .Maxwell calmly closed th BiWe, and, stepping out at the side of a f Prayeil e organ-n.- u. iTi i a i 1st beean his postlude immediately aft- f. toiir tn tbm .W th remarkable scene of the week before. ''Our brother" somehow the words sounded a little strange coming from Henry Maxwell's lips "passed away this morning. I have not yet had time to learn all hi? history. He had one sis ter living in Chicago. I have written her and have not yet received an an- : swer. His little girl is with ns and will ; remain for the time. " i He paused and looked over the house. He thought he had never seen so many I earnest faces during the entire paetor- ata He was not able yet to tell his peo ple his experiences, the crisis through which he waa even now moving, bnt something of his feeling passed from him to them, and it did not seem to him that he was acting under a careless impulse at all to goon and break to them this morning something of the message he bore in his heart So he went on : "The appearance and words of this stranger in the chnrch last Sunday made a very powerful impression on me. I am not able to conceal from you or myself the fact that what he said, followed, as it has been, by his death in my house, has compelled me to ask as I never asked before, 'What does fol lowing Jesus mean ?' I am not in a po sition yet to utter any condemnation of this people or, to a certain extent, of myself, either in our Christlike rela tions to this man or the number he rep resents in the world. But all that does not prevent me from feeling that much that the man said was so vitally true that we must face it in an attempt to answer it or else stand condemned w Christian disciples. A good deal that was said here last Sunday was in the nature of a challenge to Christianity as it is seen and felt in our churches. I have felt this with increasing emphasis every day since, and I do not know that any time is more appropriate than the present for me to propose a plan or a purpose which has been forming in my mind as a satisfactory reply to much that was said here last Sunday. " Again Henry Maxwell paused and looked into the faces of his people. There were some strong, earnest men and women in the First church. The minister could see Edward Norman, editor of the Raymond Daily News. He had been a member of First church for ten years. No man was more honored in the community. There was Alexan der Powers, superintendent of the rail road shops. There was Donald Marsh, president of Lincoln college, situated in the suburbs of Raymond. There was Milton Wright one of the great mer chants of Raymond, having in his em- ploy at least 100 men in various . shopa Thirn wn T)r Went, wlm nltVinnwrt There was Dr. West, who, although still comparatively young, was quoted as authority in special surgical cases. There was young Jasper Chase, the author, who had written one successful book arid was said to be at work on a new novel. There was Miss Virginia Page, the heiress, who through the re cent death of her father had inherited a million at least and was gifted with unusual attractions of person and in tellect. And, not least of all, Rachel Winslow from her seat in the choir glowed with her peculiar beauty of light this morning because she was so intensely interested in the whole scene. There was some reason perhaps, in view of such material in the First church, for Henry Maxwell's feeling ' satisfaction whenever he considered his parish as he had the previous Sunday. There was a large number of strong in dividual characters who claimed mem bership there. But as he noted their faces this morning Henry Maxwell was simply wondering how many of them would respond to the strange proposi tion he was about to make. He con tinued Blowly, taking time to choose his words carefully nnd giving the peo ple an impression they had. never felt before, even when he was at his best, with his most dramatic delivery. "What I am going to propose now is something which ought not to appear unusual or at all impossible of execu tion, yet I am aware that it will be so regarded by a largo number perhaps of the members of the chnrch. Bnt, in order that we may have a ' thorough understanding of what we are consid ering, I will put my proposition very plainly, perhaps bluntly. I want volun teers from the First chnrch who will pledge themselves earnestly and honest ly for an entire year not to do anything without first asking the question. 'What would Jesus do?' And after ask ing that question eat-h one will follow Jesus as exactly as he knows how, no matter what the results may be. I will, of course, include myself in this com pany of volunteers and shall take for granted that my church here will not be surprised at my future conduct as based upon this standard of action and will not oppose whatever is done if they think Christ would do it. Have I made my meaning clear? At the close of the service here I want all those members of the church who are willing to join such a company to remain, and we will talk over the details of the plan. Our motto will be, 'What would Jesus do?' Our aim will be to act just as he would if be were in' our places, regard less of immediate results. In other words, we propose to follow Jesus' steps as closely and as literally as we beliovo he taught his disciples to do. And those who volunteer to do this will pledge themselves for an entire year, begin ning with today, so to act." Henry Maxwell paused again nnd looked over his church. It is not easy to describe tho sensation that such a simple proposition apparently made. Men glanced at one another in aston ishment. It was not like Henry Max well to define Christian discipleship in this way. There was evident confusion of thought over his proposition. It was understood well enough, but there was apparently a great difference of opinion as to the application of Jesus' teaching and example. I er the benediction, and the people be- gan to go out. There was a great deal of conversation. Animated groups stood all over the church discussing the min ister's proposition. It was evidently provoking great discussion. After sev i eral minutes Henry Maxwell asked all who expected to remain to pass into j the lecture room on the side. He him ' self was detained at the front of the church talking with several persons1 there, and when he finally turned around ' the church was empty. He walked over; to the lecture room entrance and went I in. He was almost starjtled to see the peo ple who were there. He had not made up his mind about any cf his members, but he had hardly expected that so many were ready to enter into such a literal testing of their discipleship as now awaited them. There were perhaps 50 members present Among them were Rachel Winslow and Virginia Page, . Mr. Norman." President Marsh, Alex , ander Powers, the railroad superintend ent ; Milton Wright, Dr. West and Jas per Chase. I The pastor closed the door of the lec i ture room and stood before the little group. His face was pale, and his lips trembled with emotion. It was to him a genuine crisis in his own life and that of his parish. No man can tell until he is moved by the Divine Spirit what he may do or how he may change the cur rent of a lifetime of fixed habits of thought and speech and action. Henry Maxwell did not, as we have said, yet know himself all that he was passing through, but he was conscious of a 1 great upheaval in his definitions of Christian discipleship, and he waa moved with a depth of feeling he could I not measure as he looked into the faces ! of these men and women on this occa- It seemed to him that the most fitting word to be spoken first was that of prayer. He asked them all to pray with him, and almost with the first syllable he uttered there was a distinct presence of the Spirit felt by them ali As the prayer went on this presence grew in power. They all felt it. The room was filled with it as plainly as if it had been visible. When the prayer closed, there was a silence that lasted several mo ments. All the heads were bowed. Henry Maxwell's face was wet with tears. If an audible voice from heaven had sanctioned their ' pledge to follow the Master's steps, not one person pres ent could have felt more, certain of the Divine blessing. And so the most seri ous movement ever started in the First church of Raymond was begun. , "We all understand," said Henry Maxwell, speaking very quietly, "what j onrselvea to do everything in otnrdaiiy 1 .. . . r. lives alter asKing the question, 'What would Jesus do?' regardless of what ! may be the result to us. Some time I shall be able to tell you what a marvel ous change has come over my life with . in a week's time. I cannot now. But j the experience I have been through 1 since last Sunday has left me so dissat isfied with my previous definition of discipleship that I have been compelled to take this action. I did not dare be gin it alone. I know that I ,am being led by the hand of Divine love in all, this. The same Divine impulse must j have led you also. Do we understand i fully what we have undertaken?" . j "I want to ask a question," said! Rachel Winslow. Every one turned toward her. Her face glowed with a beauty that no love liness could ever create. "1 am a little in doutt as to the source of onr knowledge concerning what Jesus would do. Who is to decide for me just what he would do in mv case? It is a different age. There are j many perplexing questions in our civi- j lization that are not mentioned in the: teaching of Jesus. How am I going to! tell what he would do?" j "There is no way that I know of, "I replied Mr. Maxwell, "except as we: study Jesus through the medium of the: Holy Spirit. You remember what Christ j said speaking to his disciples about thei Holy Spirit : , j " 'riowbeit. when he. the Spirit of Truth is come, he shall guide you into nil the truth, for he shall not sneak from himself. But what things soever ; he shall hear, these shall he speak, and! I he shall declare unto you the things! that are to come. He shall glorify me, ! for he shall take of mine and shall de-l clare it unio yta. All things whatso-' ever the Father hath are mine; there fore said I that he taketk of mine and shall declare it unto you. ' "There is no other test that I know of. We shall all have to decide what Jesus would do after going to "that source of knowledge. " "What if others say of us when we do certain things that Jesus would not do so?" asked the superintendent of railroads. "We cannot prevent that, but we must be absolutely honest with our selves. The standard of Christian action cannot vary in most of our acts. " "And yet what one church member thinks Jesus would do another refuses to accept as his possible course of ac tion. What is to render our conduct uniformly Christlikef Will it be possi ble to reach the same conclusions al wavs in all cases?" asked President Henry Maxwell was silent some time. Then he answered. "No; I don't know that we can ex pect that. But when it comes to a gen uine, honest, enlightened following of Jesns' steps I cannot believe there will be any confusion either in our own miudsor in the judgment of others. We winst be free from fanaticism on one hand and too much caution on the other If Jesns' example is the example for the world, it certainly must be feasible to follow it But we need to I'member this great fact after we kave asked the Spirit to tell ns what Jesos would do and have received an answer to it we are to act regardless of the results to ourselves. Is that under stood?" To be continued.