Christian fiction; Circuit riders -- Fiction; Domestic fiction; Spouses of clergy -- Fiction
If the redeemed really do wear crowns in Heaven, with jewels in them to
represent the souls they have helped to save, I know William's will not
look very handsome. There will be no flashing diamonds or emeralds in
it, but he will have it set with very common stones to symbolize the
kind of souls that were most dear to him. There will be a dull jade
for the young country woman that he brought back home from the city and
saved from a life of sin, and, maybe, a bit of red glass for Sammy
Peters, the young man with whom he was wont to go through such orgies
of repentance on account of Sammy's many scandalous transgressions.
And he will have a piece of granite beaten down into fine gold for the
old man who repented before it was too late. And I reckon he will be
sitting somewhere upon the dimmer outskirts of Paradise most of the
time, with grandly-folded wings, holding the thing in his hands instead
of wearing it on his head; and he will be recalling those for whom the
stones stand, with a tender homesickness for them. For even in Heaven
he will be lonely without them, his dear, straying sheep.
Always the people we served were poor, and, of course, we were a trifle
poorer. The circuit rider is not only a priest to his people, but he
is a good deal of a mendicant besides. William rarely returned from an
appointment or from visiting among his flock that he did not bring with
him some largess of their kindness. This made pastoral visiting an
amiable form of foraging and had its effect on character. We were
continually struggling against the beggar instinct that is dormant in
every hopelessly poor man. We were tempted within and without.
Sometimes we could not live on the salary paid, neither could we refuse
the gifts offered without giving offense. If it was winter he would
come back with the pockets of his great-coat stuffed with sausage, or
there would be a tray of backbone, souse and spareribs under the buggy
seat. If it was summer the wide back would be filled with fruit. One
old lady on the Raburn Gap Circuit, famous for her stinginess, never
varied her gift with the seasons. It was always dried peaches with the
skins on them. But, as a rule, we received the very best they had to
give, and with a fragrant openheartedness that sweetens memory. This
is the glory of the itinerancy: if the preacher sees the worst of the
people, knows their faults and weaknesses better than any other man, he
also knows their virtues better.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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