Whither, O Christ? The vision did not say; nor did Paul ask, but started on the way. If Paul had asked, and if the Lord had said; if Paul had known the long hard road ahead; if with the heavenly vision Paul had seen stark poverty with cold and hungry mien, black fetid prisons with their chains and stocks, fierce robbers lurking amid tumbled rocks, the raging of the mob, the crashing stones, the aching eyes, hot fever in the bones, perils of mountain passes wild and steep, perils of tempest in the angry deep, the drag of loneliness, the curse of lies, mad bigotry’s suspicious peering eyes, the bitter foe, the weakly, blundering friend, the whirling sword of Caesar at the end—would Paul have turned his back with shuddering moan and settled down at Tarsus, had he known? No! and a thousand times the thundering No! Where Jesus went, there Paul rejoiced to go. Prisons were palaces where Jesus stayed; with Jesus near, he asked no other aid; the love of Jesus kept him glad and warm, bold before kings and safe in any storm.

Whither, O Christ? The vision did not say. Paul did not care. He started on the way. AMOS R. WELLS

“A great Must dominated the life of the Son of Man. That must will dominate ours if we follow in His footsteps. The Son of Man must, and so His followers must.”

Lord, I would follow, but—

First I would see what means that wondrous call That peals so sweetly through life’s rainbow hall, That thrills my heart with quivering golden chords, And fills my soul with joys seraphical.

Lord, I would follow, but—

First I would leave things straight before I go— Collect my dues, and pay the debts I owe: Lest when I’m gone, and none is here to tend, Time’s ruthless hand my garnering overthrow.

Lord, I would follow, but—

First I would see the end of this high road That stretches straight before me fair and broad; So clear the way I cannot go astray, It surely leads me equally to God.

Who answers Christ’s insistent call Must give himself, his life, his all, Without one backward look.

Who sets his hand upon the plow, And glances back with anxious brow, His calling hath mistook; Christ claims him wholly for His own; He must be Christ’s and Christ’s alone.

SELECTED

The Spirit of God does not come with a voice like thunder (that may come ultimately) but as a gentle zephyr, yet it can only be described as an imperative compulsion— This thing must be done!