An article written by my father, the Rev. C. Thomas Paige, as it appeared in the Tri-State Defender on the date shown.
Some years ago a man operating under the stress of a great moral and spiritual burden told his audience “It is time that we think anew and act anew.” How appropriate this same advice could be for each of us today. World conditions today demand that we THINK. Too long we have tried to operate on emotions. No individual, or group of individuals, can operate on the basis of emotions. We must rise up above our meager likes and dislikes and move toward those things which will have lasting values.
When the prodigal son found himself down amongst the hogs, depriving them of their menu, it was then that he thought it was time he should do some tangible thing on his own behalf. There are always ordeals that bring us to places where we must change our way of thinking and acting. In the days of slavery, Lincoln said “we must think anew and act anew!” In these days of upheaval on every front, we must stop and think before we can go forward.
Many of us have fooled ourselves into thinking that if we were in a position to gain enough materially, economically, or socially, we could solve all of our problems. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many of the things that we have set out to do in a quest for happiness and security may bring us these things for a little while but never over an extended period. The things that really bring men lasting joy and happiness are those things that are the products of real earnest thinking. Our thinking today must carry us to a realm of bigness. We must not think only in terms of ourselves but in terms of the whole picture.
One of the tragedies of human history is wrapped up in the fact that far too many of us who are in a position to think big and act big have satisfied ourselves to act on a small and insignificant level. No person who allows himself to think on the lower level of human behavior ever gets to the position where he can make a real contribution to his day and time.
I am glad that the author of this thought did not stop by saying we must think anew. I fear that in far too many instances today, many of us are just willing to think. Contrary to popular belief, the day of action is upon us. Not only must men know that certain things are immoral and un-Christian but we must gather the intestinal fortitude to do those things which our better selves dictate to us. We must awake ourselves today to that still small voice that speaks to us that gives us a sense of a new direction and new values.
Slowly, our senses of value and direction have become warped.
In these days of tensions and frustrations, we must not only be concerned about our thinking. In fact, our thinking must be followed up with worthy action.
In far too many instances we satisfy ourselves with only thinking. We know that such and such a thing is the right thing to do and we fully know that it should be done now. But we are too weak morally to stand up and do those things that will enrich not only our lives but all of those lives with whom we come in contact.
We live in a day of growing every thing undesirable. Never before in history has the world been in such a condition morally, economically, or spiritually. Never before have so many men looked at the existing conditions and merely shrugged their shoulders and passed on. But such is the case these days. In far too many instances we shrug our shoulders and pass on when we should roll up our sleeves and go to work. This world of ours will be better only when we who know better will be satisfied with doing only that which will, in the final analysis, allow us to lie down as one in pleasant dreams.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 