e was
an explorer, a bold adventurer bringing people into the presence of God;
and what does it matter whether one prays in words or acts? He
exemplified in his life one definition among many, namely, "To labor is
to pray." The weight of people's needs pressed down upon him so
relentlessly that he was driven to do something about them. His was the
temperament which animates an ancient prayer, "Lord, I am so busy this
day, if I forget Thee, do not Thou forget me." We are disposed to have
our tight little crystallizations of what prayer should or should not
be. Frank Nelson was impatient of such, for he ventured upon a scale
more broad than that envisioned by the average parson or layman. There
are no theological concepts which fit him.

Mr. Nelson had a natural talent for enjoying people, which implemented
all his work, but for a man in his position such a gift has its price:
either one wears himself out or neglects his major task and so spreads
himself thin. He chose the first course, and as we contemplate this
record of vast accomplishment who are we to say that he did not choose
wisely? He was a very busy man, and went about doing good, not just
doing. His description of Helen Trounstine's life of activity is
applicable to his own:

It was not restlessness, the hurrying on from one thing to
another, just to be busy. It was the true energy of full-hearted
and full-minded interest in life, and all that it holds; the
passion to learn that she might teach; to enjoy that she might
give joy; to rest that she might have strength to do her work; to
serve because men need her service. It was energy of mind and
heart so full of the vision of the greatness of life and the
opportunity of living, that she could not waste time except as it
ministered to the part she was to play.

Mr. Nelson did not scatter his interests indiscriminately but
concentrated his efforts in the fields where he was most competent:
social problems and the relation of the Church to the most concrete
activities of human life. All these fitted into his prime purpose.

The vision which governed his days was strengthened every year in the
long vacations that he took at his summer home in Cranberry Isles,
Maine. There beside the sea he dreamed long dreams, and drank in the
salty air which brought indispensable relaxation, and mental and
spiritual refreshment. In his small cabin on a point of land overlooking
the limitless ocean, he could b