Part 2 (2/2)

Though the operation was not until , joked to keep up her courage, and saw her through the ordeal and was there when she ca lady was the daughter of a Methodist Bishop, and one can iratitude when they learned over the phone that Mr Nelson ith her It was the sort of thing he loved to do, and people could not say enough of his help during such times of stress

There was a peculiar radiancy to his low that surrounds all lives that are nobly unselfish He never spared himself, not even in his later years when illness had laid its relentless hand upon him who had always been robust and free of physical infirmities

In a parish as diverse as that of Christ Church, there were unnuic-comic nature, and they all bespoke his special place in the hearts of his people Howard Bacon was once closeted in the parish house office on a certain winter's night with a ly insane Greatly alar Mr Nelson, who arrived in evening clothes; together they got the man into a car and drove hie Hill On the way they were stalled by a flat tire, and Mr Nelson insisted on Mr Bacon's staying in the car while he himself put on the spare In the midst of all this, the poor reat s like this?” In another instance a choir soloist developed melancholia and refused to eat, and Mr Nelson often fed her because she would eat for hireat heart

Everyone, and so, that was clothed with any need was his responsibility and called out his lihts required his presence and the remark seemed to carry a kernel of truth! Once he prayed with a poor, broken-hearted woman who had lost her dearest possession, a pet canary bird, and again he sat down and talked as one sportsaes of his position, and never duties Parents, with a true instinct for loving a ood, wanted hi his hand upon the infant he was also laying his hand upon their hearts, and this act was the genuine blessing of a father-in-God, the shepherd calling his own by na letter from a parishi+oner whose first child lived only a few hours:

The one thing I wanted to do was to receive the Holy Communion

My husband called the Parish House and left word We expected his assistant or possibly the deaconess, and you can iine how honored and comforted we felt when Mr Nelson ca to know that such a busy person could take time for one of the et the talk we had with hi the Holy Communion He asked all about our little boy, and told us always to speak of him by name and think of him alive with the Father Mr Nelson told us of a baby sister of his who died, and how he felt about her He said he always visited that tiny grave when he went hoth of the Lord dwelt in his heart else he never could have given hireat city parish

There were no barriers of access to hi to answer personally all hishand, and the only times he allowed hi Holy Week and possibly on Saturdays Everyone who came to the office was able to see hi him an article in a church paper on the ht be well to print it in the Sunday leaflet He was amused and only said, ”What does itas they _call_ us” This intense desire to give of himself lay back of his disappointment when friends and parishi+oners failed to communicate with him because they hesitated to trouble so busy a man Former Mayor Russell Wilson remarked that ”Frank Nelson was the spiritual advisor tospiritual advisors” The downright sincerity of the s of all kinds made it natural for men to talk with him

There was, however, enial th went forth from him It was in his race in his faith He carried about with him ”the medicine of a merry heart,” and patients wanted to see hih which a person passed to a deeper consciousness of the reatness of life and the infinities which brood over it Therefore, his ree One of the leading surgeons of Cincinnati, Dr J Louis Ransohoff, declared it his firave a patient a double chance Few ministers are welcomed by the medical profession in as intimate a role as this pastor took upon hi a Roreeted by the Mother Superior with a hearty ”Good-, Rabbi Nelson,” while the parishi+oner-patient said, ”Good-, Mr Nelson” His presence calht to carry further along this line, there are those who felt that he could easily have established a clinic or healing class Of no end are those who one an operation without his standing beside theard and worn Such incidents are revealing exae portion of the entire city of the enuine

Those who follow the sa must with pride point to him as superbly a hest respect by the enerally felt, in the words of Dr Ransohoff, that ”his life had a spiritual significance; there was no cant, only hu roo caone” He often ith parishi+oners to a doctor's office, and sent hundreds of others giving theht Because of Frank Nelson the name ”Christ Church” was an open sesame for all the little-knoorkers and assistants on the staff of the church For these countless favors he frequently expressed publicly his gratitude saying, ”We very often have need of the help of lawyers, doctors and nurses And we never appeal in vain Without thought of any return the doctors and lawyers of the city, the hospitals, and the Visiting Nurses' association give us quick response of their very best”

Those orked with hiettable memories of the way in which he visited the poorest tenements, alith the same courtesy and unconsciousness of environment that he showed to wealthy parishi+oners Whether East Hill or Mt Adams they were his people, and each received the kind of attention, the friendshi+p, the grave dignity and consideration that each most wanted When it was a Communion Service for the sick in a poor section of the city, he had a deeply sympathetic approach Usually he hiy room, and when he had placed the fair linen and the silver vessels where the sick person could watch him and had donned his vestments, the place was transfory, read only as the Rector could read it, there was in the humble room a Presence for which he was the channel

In his reading of the Burial Office, there was a play of light and shade upon this man of God who, like Moses, ”wist not that his face shone”

The majestic notes of faith and assurance which reverberate in the words of this service were, on his lips and in his sy, like the overtones and rich haran There was no formalism nor coldness, no hesitancy to plumb the stark reality of the occasion, but only the vibrant convictions of his own great faith in the goodness of God Few can fail to recall the clarity and feeling hich he read St Paul's iet the prayer he invariably used in this service, ”We seeive him back to Thee, dear God”

Frank Nelson hout the city, and on occasions of trouble and stress, as just mentioned, people other than those in his flock turned to him naturally and wistfully Their desires were not always consistent with the customs of the Episcopal Church In one such instance arequested a eulogy, but Mr Nelson told her that it was not the procedure of his church and, furtherhtest, she replied, ”Oh, that doesn't ive the address you made at the Mabley-Carew Depart to express her sincere appreciation thesoh to make Bob stand up in his coffin”

He kneas in the hu in tied to do and say the right thing At one time the mother of a parishi+oner had died in a distant state, and when the family arrived in Cincinnati, he was at the railroad station at seven o'clock in the age car to the hearse So sinity and simplicity of the man It was his custom at the cemetery to ith the chief mourner, and by such little kindnesses and nueneration in his long ministry A parishi+oner whoseremembers that despite the heavy tax of the day Mr Nelson cahts were on, rang the bell, calling, ”I want to talk with you” By his coht was shorn of its dread and vastness, and confidence and serenity took their place At another titon that a son had been killed in the Argonne, Mr Nelson though confined to his bed with illness went at once to call in the ho to the church, he read the identical service in that suburban home for the invalid mother As many people in Boston have said that until Phillips Brooks came to them in their sorrow they never knehat Isaiah meant in his words, ”And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytie, and for a covert from rain,”

so Christ Church people found in Frank Nelson a stronghold in time of trouble

There are many incidents that illustrate the ideals of this incomparable pastor For instance, the Council of Churches had two social workers in the Juvenile Court, one of as a parishi+oner, young and beautiful

Mr Nelson did not really want her to do such work, but her parents thought her trained and equipped for it In his solicitude he went to the Executive Secretary and asked, ”Do you have staff s? I want you to have her there in your office Give her the knowledge that she is dealing with the abnormal, and that not all life is perversion” The welfare of each individual in his church was his personal concern

He exercised this saymen, some fourteen in nue and friendshi+p that continued long after our apprenticeshi+p was ended He was an exacting teacher and beyond us, but like all others who labored in his parish, we felt a special joy and pride in working under him It was a tremendous strain to keep up with him, and his own daily stint of work often put us to shame; in the fullness of his powers he h, one could never do enough, and when tempted to let down, there was felt, even when not heard, that imperious voice, ”Go on! Don't be easy on yourself” His own shepherding exemplified his belief that in theNo task, even scrubbing floors, was too menial or too hard to be beneath the position of him who is God's servant When the problehed upon us, and their full scope inevitably was revealed at staff s, it was then as ere on our knees that his inforthened us Yes, on some rare occasions in his tower study ere on the Mount and gained fleeting glimpses of the City of God

It was difficult at times for those of lesser faith not to be appalled by the aaste and stupidity of hureat city unbares But the Rector used the many instances to illustrate the requirements of wide sympathy, and to teach us to reverence the qualities of personality even e could not fathos like this: ”Never forget that the development of our free will is what God wants Love may make mistakes, but they are not failures There are times when one's own life is of very little importance compared with the need for sacrifice” The assistants, the deaconesses, and parish visitors had, in addition to a training in ious direction His guidance issued froaret Lloyd writes:

It seeh all our parish poor lived on the top floors of tene the famous penitents' stairway in Rome would have been an easy climb compared with the ascent of Mt Adams! It was climbed almost daily by some member of the staff, and very frequently by the Rector It was not only the climb, but the drab, dreary houses of the period For those were the days of heavy, soft coal smoke, of a yellow, unpurified water supply, and a lack of adequate housing or health laws The consequences were that a large parish like ours always had typhoid or T B folk needing material help as well as sympathy and compassion The annals of such a parish always contain nue family which never was able to provide shoes or to have quite enough clothing for six children

We suspected that, despite all efforts, sufficient food was lacking, and especially at those tio-lucky sprees Everyone on the staff felt a sense of relief when this bibulous father died for there was enough insurance money not only to bury him, but to leave funds to tide the family over the next few months, and until the ine our feelings when, in less than teeks after the funeral, theappeared at the parish house! She had come to ask Christ Church for a little help until she had work ”But what has become of your insurance money, surely you have not used it all up so soon?” ”Oh! yes we have, deaconess! You see ays craved gold band rings for the children, and I always doted on having a pink enaed for stood in their shabby front roos and all! Its enormous expanse was covered with tawdry silk pillows and silk spread, and it stood out, the one glorious object in the whole teneold band rings which according to the custoer”; even the five year old displayed his golden trophy Mr Nelson did his best to ed staff Finally we did see at least so of his point of view, that to the fa would have meant in a more sophisticated family For these friends of ours had ”arrived,” socially speaking, via the pink enaain refer to thee ideas, but the Rector's respect for hu) and his e many of us And a controlled sense of humor has a marvelous effect at times There was the instance when the Rector went to conduct a funeral service on Mt Adams

It was a very hot day, the little roohbors were close to the coffin Mr Nelson put on his vestun the majestic words of the service when there strolled into the roo a very large slice of watermelon! He found a spot on the floor at the foot of the coffin, and proceeded to eat the juicy treat The Rector continued with the service, and the ave hiruity could possibly change the beauty and dignity of that service as conducted by our Rector

Frank Nelson was shepherd to all To be sure, there were complaints that he did not call in every home, and to some who did not have the opportunity to experience at first-hand his sympathy and concern, he seemed aloof But when a need arose he met it; and as years were added to years he won the confidence of all types of people To the rich he said, ”Your ift you can offer Yes, Christ Church needs money, but it needs you yourself far more” He said to the poor, ”You are splendid in the way you are helping us The parish could not get along without such workers as you Keep it up!” In the war and old, rich and poor discovered within themselves an undreamed-of capacity to respond to his faith and to his deratitude At the ti acknowledgment to a parishi+oner who had written to him of all that Christ Church and his ministry meant: