d over and warmed into life. So a conviction may
be strong and positive, but it may exist for a long time, formless,
lifeless, and useless, until it is quickened into vitality by the brooding
spirit of a man, and thus becomes an active and inspiring force. So it may
be profitable and necessary to the proper understanding of this story to
tell how the vision came.

For fifteen years I had been working away in my country parish. They had
been happy years of glad, harmonious work. I was satisfied with my job.
Though remote from the great centers of population, in a small village,
and with people of very modest means, that restless feeling that spoils
the peace and mars the work of so many ministers had been absent. My
people were of the strong and sturdy sort, faithful and appreciative
beyond many, ready to cooperate in carrying out any plans of work that the
pastor might propose. They were splendid followers, responding quickly to
all my suggestions. There was a good understanding between myself and the
people.

I was called to pass through deep affliction. My home was broken up by a
sudden stroke and I was left alone. Into the dark valley of sorrow my
people accompanied me as far as they were able to go, and the effect
seemed to be to unite us with bonds that were very strong and tender.
Every home in all the parish was mine. All the children belonged to me.
There was a chair for me at every fireside and a plate at every table.

But as the years went by there came some tempting opportunities to engage
in work elsewhere. I was not without my ambitions and aspirations. I
wanted to fill out the full measure of my ability and do my best work. And
when some opportunities came that made the little country parish seem by
comparison rather small and meager, I was not altogether proof against
them. To become assistant pastor in a famous church in a large city--to
take up the work of general missionary for a whole state seemed to promise
fields of usefulness so rich and large that they made a strong appeal to
the best there was in me, and perhaps also to the worst. I spent some
weeks and months in considering these propositions and finally turned them
down. I could not bring myself to sever my connection with those to whom I
had been so long and so closely related. The personal tie was too strong
and I decided to remain with my people.

With the decision came a thorough heart-searching. It marked a
turning-point in my spiritual