Breaking the Law "Just a Little"… July 7, 1968
A thoughtful listener has sent these words from an inscription in a school auditorium: “Obedience to law, respect for others, mastery of self, joy in service⎯these constitute life.”1...
The Best Books July 14, 1968
It was Carlyle who said that “books are like men’s souls.” This could mean that the kind of man a writer is suggests the kind of book he will write. And it could mean also that the...
Marriage Is More Than a Wedding… July 21, 1968
“One of my students wrote… me… announcing his engagement,” said Wm. Lyon Phelps, “‘This is not going to be much of a wedding,’ he said, ‘but it is...
Emphatic Trifles… July 28, 1968
The swift passing of a season is always sobering⎯for “Time,” said Benjamin Franklin, “is the stuff life is made of.”1 And while time in the eternal sense is limitless, what...
And That Has Made All the Difference August 4, 1968
In looking back we often see where we took one way instead of another⎯and what we might have done differently. This, in one sense, is what happened to Scrooge in Dicken’s Christmas Carol. He...
The Get-Out-From-Under Attitude... August 11, 1968
There is sometimes evident an attitude of wanting to get out from under, not wanting to be accountable to anyone. Young people, for example, sometimes choose to move away from home and family and...
Not Responsible to Anybody? August 18, 1968
To repeat a self-evident sentence: “There is no such thing in human existence as being so high you’re not responsible to anybody.”1 This applies to all people in all positions. It...
Hurting Ourselves…and Others… August 25, 1968
There are two acceptable assumptions that we can hurt ourselves without hurting others; and the assumption that we can hurt others without hurting ourselves. The words of John Muir come to...
Of Doing Not Enough September 1, 1968
Whenever there is over-emphasis on avoiding work, and over-emphasis on idleness, there is also need to remember the blessing of work, the privilege of work, the pleasure of work—and of the...
When I Do Good… September 8, 1968
We still remember the voice saying sincerely: “A good feeling comes into my heart when I do the things I know are right.” Since the universe is run by Law, since nature lives by law,...
On Seeing Children Go to School… September 22, 1968
Seeing children go to school for the first time is reassuring yet sobering. They leave in part the love of home, the influence of family, and begin a process from which there is no complete...
For the Down and Discouraging Days… September 29, 1968
Among the realities of life is this: that all people have problems, that all have disappointments, that all have need to be understood, to be encouraged, and at times to be looked upon with...
Don't Ever Take a Fence Down…until… October 6, 1968
“Don’t ever take a fence down,” said G. K. Chesterton, “until you know the reason it was put up.” Too many people in too many places tend to remove time-honored...
When a Child Begins to Ask Questions… October 13, 1968
A person soon learns how little he knows when a child begins to ask questions. Children often penetrate us to the very center of our souls, and in their honest, searching innocence reveal to us our...
Some Laws Too Seldom Considered… October 20, 1968
In our concern for liberty, and law, and lawlessness, and what is of isn’t legal of moral of permissible, there sometimes seems to be too much complexity. The endless process of passing many...
Cooling Tempers… October 27, 1968
“The height of human wisdom,” said Daniel Defoe, “is to bring our tempers down to our circumstances and to make a calm within, under the weight of the greatest storm...
The Habits We Have… November 3, 1968
There is this form Samuel Johnson on habit and human behavior: “the chains of habit are generally too small to be felt, until they are too strong to be broken.”1 “Do not...
We Don't Stumble Over Mountains November 10, 1968
From somewhere comes this old and interesting observation: “We don’t stumble over mountains.” It seems we stumble over small things mostly. It is by small steps and often small...
The Silent Wars Within… November 17, 1968
“In reading world history,” wrote Harlan House, “we are impressed by the exploits of daring men leading mighty armies and conquering great nations. Yet how often do we consider the...
For Life…for Law…for Loved Ones November 24, 1968
We have so much to be thankful for, that almost it overwhelms us, almost before we begin. And among the greatest blessings are life, and law, and loved ones. Without law, there would be no assurance...