| The Life of Dr. J.R. Miller |
Chapter 1 |
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A visitor to the neighbourhood of an entirely different sort left an indelible impression on the mind of the growing boy. When he was an old man he said of this visitor:
“Sixty years ago a man went through Western Pennsylvania, making infidel or atheistic speeches. He had some eloquence and spoke persuasively, and many men’s minds were poisoned by his words. Some years later he met Christ and surrendered to Him, becoming an earnest believer and a zealous Christian. One of the earliest recollections of my boyhood is of this man holding meetings around my home and speaking boldly for Christ. When he became a Christian he saw his terrible error in having laboured so against Christ. He saw that he had done great harm to many lives by his arguments against Christianity, against the Bible, against God. And he went to the same neighbourhoods, where he had sown seeds of infidelity, and spoke in the same halls and schoolhouses, tying to undo the evil work of his earlier years. Very pathetic was the sight of the old man at his unavailing work.”
The picture of the vain efforts of this old man to undo the evil work of his earlier years was afterwards to point the warning that evil words once spoke are gone beyond recall.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller were a blessing in the homes of others as well as in their own family circle. Seldom was there sickness or sorrow in a neighbours’ house when one or both of them did not go at once on an errand of mercy. Their readiness to help in this way soon made an impression on James, who was noted when quite young for that eagerness to go to houses where there was sickness, which was a characteristic to the end of his life. Neighbours of early days lovingly tell of his ministry to a large family, all of whom were stricken with typhoid fever; for weeks he gave himself to the care of the household, till all but two were nursed back to health. The father and one son died. After these deaths the volunteer nurse – then a student away from home – made frequent visits of sympathy to the bereaved family.
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