Unconscious unpurposed influences
(J.R. Miller, "Help for the Day")
It is not what a man does or says
purposely and with direct intention,
which leaves the deepest mark
in the world and in other lives--
but it is the unconscious unpurposed
influences which go out from him
like the fragrances from a garden.
Character is not necessarily
what the man does--
but what the man is!
There are great multitudes of humble
Christian lives lived on the earth,
which have no name among men,
whose work no pen records
and no marble immortalizes--
but which are well known and
unspeakably dear to GOD;
and whose influence will be seen,
in the end, to reach to farthest shores.
They make no noise in the world--
but it does not need noise to make
a life beautiful and noble. Many of GOD'S
most potent ministries are noiseless.
How silently all day long the sunbeams
fall upon the fields and gardens--
and yet what cheer, what inspiration,
what life and beauty they diffuse!
How silently the flowers bloom--
and yet what rich blessings of beauty
and fragrance do they emit!
How silently the stars move on in their
majestic marches around GOD'S throne--
and yet the telescope shows us that
they are mighty worlds representing
utterly incalculable power!
The silent personal influence of a holy
Christian has a healing, life-giving
effect wherever it falls. Such a man
goes about his daily duty as other
men do; but, while he is engaged
in common things, he is continually
dropping seeds of blessing, which
spring up behind him in heavenly
beauty and fragrance!
In all true living, while men
execute their greater plans--
they are ever unintentionally
performing a series of unconscious
acts which often yield most beneficent
and far-reaching results.
There is a way side ministry,
for instance, made up of countless
little courtesies, gentle words, mere
passing touches on the lives of those
we meet casually, impulses given
by our salutations, influences
flowing indirectly from the things
we do and the words we speak--
a ministry undesigned, unplanned,
unnoted, merely incidental--
and yet it is impossible to measure
the wondrous results of these
unconscious acts of usefulness.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
(J.R. Miller, "Help for the Day")
It is not what a man does or says
purposely and with direct intention,
which leaves the deepest mark
in the world and in other lives--
but it is the unconscious unpurposed
influences which go out from him
like the fragrances from a garden.
Character is not necessarily
what the man does--
but what the man is!
There are great multitudes of humble
Christian lives lived on the earth,
which have no name among men,
whose work no pen records
and no marble immortalizes--
but which are well known and
unspeakably dear to GOD;
and whose influence will be seen,
in the end, to reach to farthest shores.
They make no noise in the world--
but it does not need noise to make
a life beautiful and noble. Many of GOD'S
most potent ministries are noiseless.
How silently all day long the sunbeams
fall upon the fields and gardens--
and yet what cheer, what inspiration,
what life and beauty they diffuse!
How silently the flowers bloom--
and yet what rich blessings of beauty
and fragrance do they emit!
How silently the stars move on in their
majestic marches around GOD'S throne--
and yet the telescope shows us that
they are mighty worlds representing
utterly incalculable power!
The silent personal influence of a holy
Christian has a healing, life-giving
effect wherever it falls. Such a man
goes about his daily duty as other
men do; but, while he is engaged
in common things, he is continually
dropping seeds of blessing, which
spring up behind him in heavenly
beauty and fragrance!
In all true living, while men
execute their greater plans--
they are ever unintentionally
performing a series of unconscious
acts which often yield most beneficent
and far-reaching results.
There is a way side ministry,
for instance, made up of countless
little courtesies, gentle words, mere
passing touches on the lives of those
we meet casually, impulses given
by our salutations, influences
flowing indirectly from the things
we do and the words we speak--
a ministry undesigned, unplanned,
unnoted, merely incidental--
and yet it is impossible to measure
the wondrous results of these
unconscious acts of usefulness.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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