| The Life of Dr. J.R. Miller |
Chapter 6 |
Page 13 |
The calls were made on rich and poor alike, but he felt that he was needed more in the homes of the poor, and he was there more frequently.
Another principle that guided him as he made his calls he once stated thus:
“If there is a house which nobody wants to visit, or a person in that house whom everyone avoids, I feel that I should be derelict in my duty as a Christian minister, and recreant to the Master, whose I am, and whom I serve, if I did not go to that house and try to comfort, help and save that person.”
To one who found fault with him because he seemed to pay attention to one girl in the congregation more than to a companion, he made and explanation that was in perfect accord with the declaration just quoted. He said:
“You speak of Mary and Alice. You think that I have been drawn more to the former than to the latter. This is scarcely the case. Mary may have appealed to me more just because she needs more help. Alice is comfortable and happy, surrounded by love and kindness and does not need so much as Mary does. Somehow my heart goes out first of all, and most deeply, toward those who need most. For many years I have sought to be helpful to those whom other persons are not likely to help. People, who are happy and comfortable, with many friends about them, do not therefore appeal to me in the same way as those who lack these earthly blessings. I think Alice has a beautiful character. I want to know her better. I want to be her close, personal friend. I am sure I shall get to love her very deeply and truly. But I have not felt that God has called me to help her in any special way. Perhaps she may need me more than I imagine. I should love to be helpful to her in any way I can be.
“I think this statement will show you just how the matter rests in my mind. It is not so much a comparison of the two girls as to their worth, their beauty of character, their nobleness of womanhood, but rather a comparison of the appeals they make respectively to me. Do I make my meaning clear?”
Page 13
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