On one of the battle-fields of South Africa a young chaplain
found a Highlander sorely wounded and with life ebbing quickly
away. He asked him to allow him to pray, but the soldier said
gruffly, “No, I don’t want prayers. I want water.” The chaplain
secured, with great difficulty, some water, and then asked the
refreshed man if he might read a psalm. “No,” said the soldier
again. “I am too cold to listen to a psalm.” The chaplain
instantly stript off his coat and wrapt it tenderly round the
wounded soldier. And then, touched by the chaplain’s sympathy,
the man turned and said, “Chaplain, if religion makes men like
you, let’s have that psalm.” When Christians prove themselves
loving and considerate for the sick and suffering, even the
hardest heart melts.
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