| The Life of Dr. J.R. Miller |
Chapter 12 |
Page 7 |
In a letter to Mrs. Miller, written a few days before reaching Philadelphia, he told his delight in the unusual vacation:
“The tour has not been a mere vacation from work for Mr. Wanamaker and myself. We have held services at every point. I am sure that Mr. Wanamaker has left encouragement and new strength in hundreds of Christian hearts, especially by his words to Young Men’s Christian Associations and Sunday school teachers. Certain it is that we would hardly have done as much preaching and speaking if we had been at home. It has been almost like some of St. Paul’s journeying through the country to confirm the souls of the brethren. This fact reconciles me to what on one side seems to me almost a waste of time in sightseeing. It does not look to me now as if the ‘rest’ element had come to much, for I have not often been busier than on this journey. I have a very heavy mail at every stopping place, and many local letters at every point, all of which must be answered. Still I am no doubt getting rest in the change, and will come home fat and strong. “
His last thought was not of himself, but of those whom he had met:
“It is to be hoped that we have left a little new cheer and courage in some earnest hearts along the way; certain it is that we have received blessing in our hearts and lives from the people we have met.”
He returned from the six weeks’ absence from his desk with humble heart:
“It ought to be worth a great deal to one to have had the opportunity of seeing all this natural beauty. It ought to make a better man of him, this beholding so much of the loveliness and grandeur God has made. It ought to make his heart gentler, his life purer and sweeter, and his spirit lovelier. It ought to make him more reverent and exalted in all his thoughts and feelings. As we take up aga in our tasks and duties we shall all remember the happy days of privilege we have enjoyed and be the better for them.”
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