Concerning Differences in Men

There is a commonplace but ever-startling observation to be made concerning men, and that is: how very much alike they are, and yet how very different. Those reared in the same home at the same time under the same influences often give early evidence of strikingly different personalities, abilities, and aptitudes. Even so-called identical twins may be vitally different in many ways, although their likeness in looks may be confusing to others. Occasionally in almost every generation men of great gifts appear—men of great minds, great souls, great talents. They may be born and reared in the same home as half a dozen other children; they may attend the same schools as a thousand others; they may be exposed to the same community influences as ten thousand others, and yet give early and unmistakable evidence of unusual gifts. We may train a child most excellently in all of the conventional ways of music, but that doesn’t mean that we have another Mozart or Brahms. We may teach students most diligently the proper use of language—but that doesn’t mean that we have another Shakespeare or Browning. We may discipline men in the ways of war and of statesmanship, but that doesn’t mean we have another Washington or Franklin. Beyond all the factors of like that can be accounted for in the terms of the present there is still much more that cannot be accounted for except in terms of the eternal past, intimations of which were given to Job when the Lord God answered him out of the whirlwind and said: “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?…When the morning starts sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?…Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?…Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great?”17 It would seem that in the wisdom of God, men of gifts and leadership are born in every generation and among many peoples. We may be grateful that these infinite complexities of life are in the hands of God, and are not left to the limited understanding of men, no two of whom see all things alike. And we may be grateful for the assurance of an eventual justice that will take into account our differences. And those who would plan the lives of others must be mindful of not only their many likenesses, but also of their many differences, some of which can be accounted for by the environment and opportunities and experiences of this life, and some of which must find their explanations beyond the bounds of this world.