Church of England -- Clergy -- Correspondence; Clergy -- England -- Correspondence; Robinson, Forbes, 1867-1904 -- Correspondence
'Mr. Robinson was no less marked off from the majority of men by the
stress which he laid upon the reality and power of prayer. We used
from time to time to have long talks together on this subject, so {195}
that I can speak with some little knowledge of the place which he
assigned it in his life. With characteristic modesty he not
infrequently distrusted himself in his active contact with men. His
very anxiety to help others towards the ideals by which his own life
was dominated led him to see the risk of placing hindrances in their
way by an injudicious intrusion into the secret places of their hearts.
Drawn in different directions, therefore, by his passionate desire to
win men for Christ and his cautious fear lest untimely words of his
should hinder rather than help, he found refuge in giving himself up to
earnest prayer on their behalf. And prayer to him meant more than a
light repetition of words. He used often, I believe, to spend as long
as half an hour at a time in seeking blessing for a single man. We
cannot doubt that, in the strong influence which he himself exerted
upon so many of those who knew him, such persistent prayer received at
least a part of its own answer.
'The last element in your brother's individuality which always
impressed me was his restrained, but genuine, mysticism. In the few
accounts of his life that I have read I do not remember any allusion to
this characteristic. That he possessed it, however, and this to no
usual degree, seems to my mind quite patent; in fact, it was this
suggestion of mysticism that first attracted me to him. The mysticism
one sees around one is often so unregulated and so ignorant that it was
refreshing to find a mystic who was also an enlightened scholar and
thinker. It confirmed the feeling, instinctive in one's heart, that,
despite the abuse of caricature, a deep, intelligent {196} apprehension
of unseen realities is of the essence of the fulness of religion. Mr.
Forbes Robinson appeared to possess an unusually certain cognisance of
the unseen world. How well I remember the way in which, again and
again, tea over and our pipes lighted, he would curl himself up in one
of his or my own big chairs and discuss questions of interest to us
both with a far-away look in his eyes altogether suggestive of a
genuine otherworldliness! And this familiarity with unseen verities
seemed to run through all those parts of his life with which I was
acquainted, and indeed to be to him the most real fact of all
existence. To use the simple language of olden days, I believe that
"he walked with God": and that explains his life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account