I Stood on the Shoulders of Giants…

This thought comes from an ancient Greek source: “A dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than a giant himself.”¹ In a sense all of us stand on the shoulders of giants. All of us stand on the shoulders of others⎯no man is self-made; no man is self-sufficient; no man of himself has brought in to being all the things that enrich his life. All of us inherit so much from the past that we have an obligation to serve the present, and to pass on an improved world to the future. We all stand on the shoulders of parents, of teachers, of friends and benefactors, and of all who have contributed to all that is ours⎯for all things planted, for all things developed and improved; for all inventions, tools and medicines, for literature, for art, for education, for law, for cherished traditions, for freedom, for the heritage we have. And all this didn’t just happen. It came from the toil and sweat and sacrifice, the study, the trial and error, the time and effort of others. No man stands alone. We all stand on the shoulders of others. “The private and personal blessing we enjoy,” said Jeremy Taylor, “the blessings of immunity, safeguard, liberty, and integrity, deserve the thanksgiving of a whole life.”² And, as David Grayson said it: there is a deep, deep, connection of all these things with God.”³ There is no place for selfishness and no such thing as a man self-made. Thus all of us have reason for humility, for gratitude, for prayerful acknowledgment to the source of all truth, of all law, of all life, for the very purpose of life⎯reason for gratitude to God.