To Finish

For youth, it is a season of searching and decision, with some completing school,

some deciding to continue, some quitting before they acquire credentials. From the

Master, there is a meaningful reminder: “For which of you, intending to build a tower,

sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost…? Lest haply, after he hath laid the

foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, this

man began to build, and was not able to finish.”¹ This suggests commendation to those

who have finished what good thing they began, and encouragement to those who have yet

further to finish. There is special satisfaction and reward for the finishers. Opportunities

are always fewer for the undisciplined mind or the untrained hand. It is a time when men

should acquire competence, a time when men need to know. In this learning process we

learn that Nature lives by law. And if we are to live in a safe and successful society, we

must learn that the process of law is an absolute essential. Another lesson to be learned is

the need for our participating part in solving problems. Hamlet, in pondering his

problems, said: “The time is out of joint: O cursed spite, that I was ever born to set it

right.”² We all were bora to set right whatever we can that is within our reach. Another

lesson to be learned is the law of work that god himself gave. Another is not letting

interruptions keep us off course. Whatever diverts us, we should get back on course as

quickly as we can. As education teaches men to think, to work, to accept responsibility

with respect for law and the lasting values of life, it is worth all the money and time and

effort it takes. Everyone should acquire all the wholesome knowledge and competence

he can. “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth

the cost,” – and which of you would choose to fail to finish?