UNCLE TIM'S TALENT

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jun 30, 1881

UNCLE TIM'S TALENT.

UNCLE TIM was a wood-sawyer and day's-work factotum for the village. Unlearned as he was, the minister always missed him if he was absent from church—he was such a helpful listener. And when Uncle Tim complimented the minister on his sermon, he replied, "You told me that you thought it was good at the time, in the way you listened to it; though, for that matter, you always seem to be interested. I don't suppose you know what a comfort such a hearer is to a minister. If all the congregation were like you, I think it would turn my poor sermons into good ones."

"Thank you," said Uncle Tim. "I don't always get the hang of everything that's said, but I should get less if I didn't give attention. An' I always say to myself, 'The minister, he works hard upon his sermons, an' if folks don't listen to 'em, its pretty discouraging.' An' I says, 'You can't put much into the contribution-box, Tim, an' you can't talk in prayer-meetin' very well, but you can count one in listenin'; you can try to 'preciate what other folks do.'"

"The talent for appreciating is an excellent one to have," remarked the minister.

"Well, as I look at it, it's one that isn't denied to anybody," said Uncle Tim. "An' if it's the only one I'll try not to wrap it in a napkin. When Deacon Mason does me good by one of his experience talks in prayer-meetin' I think it's no more than right he should know it. P'raps he has times of thinkin' that he can't say anything worth while, an' it stan's to reason that he can talk better if he knows he's doing somebody some good."

The other day I see the young school-ma'am was lookin' worn out and sober like. I 'magined them big boys from the Holler was worryin' the life out of her. An' I did'nt know how I could help that. But at noon I just went down to the school-house a purpose to tell her how nice your gran'son was gettin' along with his 'rithmetic. An' she said it was better than half-a-dozen cups of tea, for cheerin' her up—she did. An' when I see Sanford's boy take a little Irish girl's part that other boys were tormentin', I went up to him an' says, 'Uncle Tim's nothin' but a wood-sawyer, but he knows enough to see that you've got the stuff of a gentleman in you.' You see old folks don't notice the young enough. An' there's Jim Brady, a drinkin', card-playin', shootin'-match