In the first parish where I labored lived a man who was not
only agnostic in his attitude toward things religious, but even
derided them, and was wont to chaff his wife on her devotion to
her Church. The wife, however, went on her quiet but earnest
way, living out her religion in the home. One morning very
early the husband awoke and discovered his wife beside his bed
absorbed in whispered prayer. Her pale, upturned face was fixt
with intensity upon the Invisible, and her warm hand was resting
upon his own, she supposing him to be asleep. As the husband’s
eyes opened on the unexpected scene, the suggestion came like a
flash to his soul, “My wife’s God is more real to her than her
husband is. If she is so earnest for my welfare as to rise at
such an hour and pray alone for me, it is time I had some care
for my own soul”; and he instantly arose from his bed, knelt
beside her and added his own prayer to hers. He gave his heart
to God on the spot, and that very morning came to the early
meeting at the church and announced his change of heart; the
next Sabbath he united with the Church.--H. C. MABIE,
“Methods in Evangelism.”
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