The Extremity

The Extremity By Nephi Jensen

"Here is a ticket to Jasper, Florida, and $6.35 with which to purchase your meals tomorrow, and transportation from Jasper to Istachatta, Florida, your destination. You will reach your destination day after tomorrow morning." It was the secretary of the Southern States mission who spoke. His remarks were addressed to Elder Arthur Brown, who was just stepping on to the train at Chattanooga, Tennessee, which was to take him on his way to his assigned field of evangel- ical activities. The secretary had correctly figured the sum of money necessary to pay for the three meals and the ticket from Jasper to the town with the unpronounceable name. But he had inadvertently left out of account a contingency which was to bring the young elder prematurely face to face with the stern realities of missionary life. The secretary, however, was acting in full accord with the policy of the mission in sending Elder Brown out of Chattanooga with just enough money to pay actual transportation to his ap- pointed field of labor, and closely figured incidentals. Elder Elias Kimball, who was the President of the Southern States mission at the time, was a very pronounced believer in the idea that a missionary's usefulness did not commence until he had been deprived of every human prop and support, and had been com- pelled to place his trust solely in the strength of God. In put- ting into effect this policy, he inaugurated and enforced rigor- ously the rule of having his elders travel without "purse or scrip." Elder Brown took the ticket and money, and entered the train blissfully assured he would have a pleasant, uninterrupted journey to southern Florida. All went well until the following evening, when he reached Jasper, and suddenly discovered that the secretary had made a mistake. His train out of Jasper did not leave until 8 a. m., the following morning. The $5.35 which he had left was exactly the price of the ticket he must purchase in the morning. But he was without means for obtaining lodg- ing for the night. He could not stroll into a hotel and register with the carefree air of one who had unlimited finances to back up his bluff. Nor were there friends at hand to give him aid. And the thought that he had entered upon a calling which, in

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Florida, at that time, was very much despised, only added to his already deepening sense of humility. "Mormon" elders had actually been mobbed out of the town just a few weeks before. He, however, was spared the disquiet- ing knowledge of this fact. But as it was, he was having the sternest experience of his life. Without purse or scrip or friends, he was for the first time in his life compelled to turn to the Friend of Friends. With a completely mellowed spirit, he breathed a silent prayer that the hotel keeper might be disposed to lodge him for the night. It was the kind of prayer that Cole- ridge speaks of as "the very highest energy of which the human mind is capable." And it prevailed. The very proprietor of the town hostlery who had aided and abetted the mobbing of the elders a few weeks before took the young elder in. It was an entirely new world that Elder Brown opened his eyes upon the next morning. The deep experience of the night before had so intensified and purified his sensibilities that trees and sky, and the commonest things, seemed infinitely fairer than ever before. Once for all, he had learned that it is not novelty that gives joy, but intensity of appreciation of the common- place. He had passed through the narrows. God had walked by his side. That greatest of all thoughts, "I cried, and God heard me," was his. It had completely purged his soul of its cold- ness and hardness, and in his heart deep gratitude had taken the place of hollow gaiety, and pride had turned to gentle meek- ness. As he walked to the depot, he felt the most ineffable kind- ness for every creature. Passing a real southern negro, who had never in his life been greeted by a white man, Elder Brown in a most cordial way said, "Good morning." — — "Wa'd er er you say, captain?" responded the colored man, half dumbfounded. When the elder, with even more warmth repeated the salutation, the negro said very hesitatingly, "Wall I—I recon it is." The negro could not understand it. A white man in a frock coat had actually said good morning to him It was the miracle !

of miracles. To him it seemed as if the whole course of hu- man nature had changed. And so it had. The elder's soul, by the magic contact with God, had passed through a spiritual fluxing and had been cleansed of the spirit of this world, with its accompanying pride and vanity. Gone were all thoughts of fame and selfish pleasure. And yet the riches of riches were his. For he had become sincerely "poor in spirit," and thereby become heir to "the kingdom of heaven."