An article written by my father, the Rev. C. Thomas Paige, as it appeared in the Tri-State Defender on the date shown.
Life has its peculiarities. The older one gets the more he realizes that life is peculiar. Life, to many people, is a matter of one trial after another. To some, it is a matter of one temptation after another. To still others, it is a matter of one heartache after another. Man finds himself constantly having to readjust himself to the changing conflicts that confront him day by day.
Yet one tries to adjust himself to the higher things of life. Some sometimes fails to muster that which is to potent toward making him what he should be.
Life is not a matter of us having made a success but rather a matter of us constantly moving toward that which will, in the final analysis, make us people after God’s own heart. How does one arrive at such a thing? Only to the degree that he is able to catch a vision of greatness. Not only must he get this vision, but he must also get the enthusiasm to attain this greatness. One of the most tragic things facing us today is this very fact.
What must one do to really realize some of his dreams? What must be the fortification that each of us must maintain to live life at its fullest? Only this: in each of our lives. if we are to reach the utmost, there must be some reserve. There must be something in each of us for which we can reach when life’s darkest hours enshroud us. These hours might be expressed in terms of temptations, trials, heartaches, or pains. But whatever they are, there must be something in each of us that will enable us to muster enough strength to keep on going on.
The world today belongs to those who dare to dare. In spite of what life places upon our shoulders and our hearts, there must be a reservoir. There must be some place without and within to which each of us might be able to retreat and there find enough strength for every ordeal. It is at this point that each of us can kindly say, “Thank God for the reserve!” There must be moral, spiritual, and social reserves in each of us that, when haunted by life’s darkest hours, we can reach back into the apparent unknown and there find strength for another start on life’s journey.
One of the most startling and discouraging facts facing us today is that too many of us never put up a reserve that, in life’s darkest moments, we are able to reach back and replenish ourselves to the point that we are able to move on a little further.
The Prodigal Son, upon reaching the end of his line, looked homeward and there saw a father who was full of forgiveness and willingness to restore him to his original place in the home. Many of us will not measure up to the status of the Prodigal Son but there are places in our lives where we can refill our spiritual, moral and social emptiness, take courage, and move on.
Each one of us somewhere and sometimes in our lives gets a vision of greatness. The tragic thing about the whole thing is that many times, we lack the reserve to keep on going. Nothing is more tragic that to see a person get within arm’s reach of his goal and then give up. Unfortunately, thousands are doing that every day.
There must be a reserve in each of us. There must be something behind us that, when all doors seem to shut, we can reach back and find the will to go on. Only to the extent that this is true will life ever have any meaning for us. The fact that, upon moral, spiritual and social restraint, we are able to look ourselves in the mirror at the close of each day will life be most meaningful to us. Life has a peculiar way of running out on us. W need to be able to reach back and make life worthwhile – not only for ourselves but for all of those who come in contact with us.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 