The Song I Came to Sing… December 27, 1964
Two lines from Tagore suggest a subject: “The song that I came to sing remains unsung…I have spent my days in stringing and in unstringing my instrument.” Stringing and unstringing our...
Back to the Real Christmas… December 20, 1964
“Sometimes… as we travel through life, we swing around a circle,“ wrote Oscar Graeve. “We leave the calm faith of childhood for the … doubts of later years… But then, if we are...
There Are No Little Things… December 13, 1964
“The first step, my son…” said Voltaire, “is the one on which depends the rest of our days.” “The power of little things…should be the first lesson...
Block the Beginnings December 6, 1964
Along with the importance of beginning what should be done, there is also the importance of not beginning what should not be done. This suggests two or three citations, on from a man named Amiel,...
Beginning: A Big Part of Any Process November 29, 1964
We seem at times to find ourselves running in ruts, in discouragement, assuming that things must be about as they are, with not much vision, or encouragement for the future. There are some who find...
Sincere Gratitude Is Not Silent… November 22, 1964
From an “Essay on History” comes this significant sentence: “One lesson, and only one, [that] history may be said to repeat with distinctness is this; that the world is built...
Why Carry the Load Longer? November 15, 1964
“The great thing is this world,” said Oliver Wendell Holmes, “is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving.” This suggests the importance of doing, of...
The Resolve Not to Be Useless… November 8, 1964
Among the most discouraging facts anyone faces is the feeling that he doesn’t have the promise, the possibilities for significant usefulness, or success, no real promise for the future. But...
The Courage to Carry On November 1, 1964
Part of life is lived in trying to avoid problems, part in trying to solve them and part in learning to live with them—to live with the facts that have to be faced—and to do it from day to day. When...
A Too Comfortable Complacency… October 25, 1964
It is safe to rely on the old assumption often cited, that what we don’t know won’t hurt us—that what we don’t see or sense won’t hurt us. It is possible to be hurt without...
Not Neutral, but Negative… October 18, 1964
There is a word considered sometimes as a virtue which is often not so, and indeed may be quite the contrary. The word is neutrality, which in dictionary definition means “neither one thing...
Rationalizing Repentance October 11, 1964
So much is at stake in life—the whole everlasting future before us, that persisting in unrepentance is exceedingly shortsighted. And following one mistake with more or many more, on the assumption...
Who Knows How Long He Has? October 4, 1964
Repentance is one of the most important principles that God has given, and the fact that He gave it is evidence that He knew we would need it, and that He will accept it—when it is sincere. He will...
Don't Say It… Don't Do It… September 27, 1964
This terse advice comes from newspaper parlance: “If you don’t want it printed in the paper, don’t do it.” To this might be added: If you don’t want it printed,...
The Constitution--and Freedom Under God September 20, 1964
Sometimes some things are so good, so constant, so much a part of our way of life, that we assume they were always there and always will be, regardless of any actions or attitude of ours, or any...
The Wonder of Work September 13, 1964
“People need work almost as much as they need food,” said an unknown author. “Lack of work causes drudgery and discontent. To enjoy working is part of growing up,… If you...
Whatever Work Is… September 6, 1964
“Without some goal and some effort to reach it,” said Dostoevsky, “no man can live.” “The highest reward for man’s toil is not what he gets for it, but what he...
Personal Peace and Privacy August 30, 1964
In pursuing the subject of freedom and personal peace and the right of privacy, there are some interesting citations from some interesting sources. We all need times of quiet and composure and...
Cause… Consequence… and Cure August 23, 1964
Wherever there is disregard for standards, for law, for morals, there is need to consider causes and consequences. “What am I? And What is?” asked Emerson. “When man says:–I...
Summer--Frustration and Fulfillment August 16, 1964
Summer is much more than a season. It is a symbol—a pattern of moods, of activities, attitudes. It is growing things, doing things, sometimes with intensity of travel, vacationing, and sometimes...