Daily Reading for July 27 • William Reed Huntington, Priest, 1909

William was very much exercised as to what occupation he should enter on graduation. His mind was not at first inclined to enter the Church, as he loved science very dearly, and more so as time went on. But Mr. Cooke, devoted as he was to science, put all his influence on the side of the Church. And after the death of William’s mother, which occurred soon after his graduation, William’s mind never wavered from the idea of devoting himself to a religious life.

This idea is best expressed by his lines, “Before Ordination,” published later:

Thou callest, Lord, I hear Thy voice
And so in meekness come.
I falter, but not mine the choice.
Thou callest. I am dumb.
I only listen. I am least
Of all, and yet I know
Thou callest me to be Thy priest.
I argue not. I go.

All through the past Thy hand hath led;
Grant me this day to feel
That hand in blessing on my head,
As at Thy feet I kneel.

The years await me. What they hold
Thou knowest, Lord, not I.
On every side the cloud-banks fold
The edges of my sky.

But still within my ears there rings
One voice and only one,—
All courage to my heart it brings,—
Thy will, my God, be done.

He determined to begin his studies for the ministry as soon as possible.

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.

From A Few Memories of William Reed Huntington by his sister, Mary Huntington Cooke (privately printed at the Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1910). Found at http://anglicanhistory.org/usa/wrh/memories1910.html