A Generous Soul - Part 2

John Watson (3 November 1850 – 6 May 1907), was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland. He is remembered as an author of fiction, known by his pen name Ian Maclaren. I'm currently reading his short story collection "St Jude", but am also fascinated by his life. Here was a man who stood out against a narrowness in his creed, and who was indeed "a generous soul".

The Life of The Rev. John Watson, D.D. "Ian Maclaren"
A Generous Soul - Part 2
By W. Robertson Nicoll

One of Watson's chief recollections of early church-going was of the ordination of a minister. It seemed to the child as if the proceedings would never come to an end, and as one minister after another mounted the pulpit and each began a new sermon, despair seized his heart. His mother, ever weaker than his father, conducted him to the door of the church and set him in the direction of home.

The father contented himself next morning with expressing his assurance that, whatever John might be fit for in after life, he had no hope whatever that he would become a minister of the Church!

A more pleasing memory was that of the solemn administration of the Lord's Supper. In the procession of the elders the child was specially interested in an old man with very white hair and a meek, reverent face.

Sometime after he was walking on the road and passed a man breaking stones. The white hair caught his attention, and he looked back and recognised the elder who had carried the cup. Full of curiosity and wonder, he told his father the strange tale. His father explained to him that the reason why the old man held so high a place in the Church was that although he was one of the poorest men in all the town, he was one of the holiest.

"Remember," said his father, "the best man that ever lived upon this earth was the poorest, for our Lord had not where to lay His head ; " and he added, James breaks stones for his living, but he knows more about God than any person I have ever met." So he learned that evening, and never departed from the faith, that the greatest thing in all the world is character, and the crown of character is holiness.