The Quaker philosopher Rufus Jones, in his autobiography, relates a childhood incident that seems trivial in itself, but, seen in the light of what he eventually became, it was probably the turning point in his life that made him the great man he was. One day his parents told him to stay home and weed the turnip patch while they were gone. He had just begun when some friends came along and persuaded him to go fishing with them, promising to help him weed the garden when they got back. But, as every fisherman knows, it's practically impossible to keep track of the time when you're fishing especially if the fish are biting!

When young Rufus finally returned home after dark, his mother was waiting for him. Silently, she led him to his room. He knew what he deserved, so he offered not a word of excuse. "But then," he writes, "a miracle happened instead. Mother put me in a chair, kneeled down, put her hands on me, and told God all about me. She interpreted her dream of what my life was to be. She portrayed the boy and the man of her hopes. She told God what she always expected me to be, and then how I had disappointed her hope. 'O God!' she prayed. 'Take this boy of mine and make him the boy and man he is divinely designed to be.' Then she bent over and kissed me and went out and left me alone in the silence with God."