The Pulpit Speaks: May 18, 1963

An article written by my father, the Rev. C. Thomas Paige, as it appeared in the Tri-State Defender on the date shown.

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came as a witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe!”

IMAGE AGE

Never before in the history of man has the term “image” been used so frequently in the home, in the church, and in the school. People are talking daily about “images.” We think in terms of holding before the child a healthy image so that he will be able to cope with the multitudes of problems arising in his life. This idea of “image” may be something new and unique in our thinking but a long time ago, John described himself in terms of an “image.” He came to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe.

Historically, consciously or unconsciously, each one of us is an “image.” History has been marked with “images” that have been positive and negative.

THE GOOD IMAGE

History has had its Hitlers, Mussolinis, Alexanders, Caesars, and the like, but we’ve also had our Grenfels, Stanleys, Pasteurs. Whittiers, Longfellows and Hughes. History has been most fortunate in that the latter group has been more plentiful.

Society is what it is today because those men who have had something positive to offer have outnumbered those who looked at life negatively. We have had those people among us who have constantly thought in terms of what positive action they could make.

It is because of this that we have been able to move from the barbaric impulses that engulf us to a same and sound approach to like. John summed it up when he said, “I came to bear witness to that Light that through all men might believe.”

I wonder this morning if, when life becomes a real venture in our thinking, we are not moving toward maturity. It is only to the extent that life becomes a meaningful venture that men can lay claim to the fact that they are growing up. John realized that he had been exposed to something that was meaningful and he could not be satisfied by merely being exposed himself but he had to impart a part of this thing to his fellow man.

AWAKENING NEEDED

There must be an awakening on the part of every human being today that he is here for a purpose. At the baptism, the dove came down and said, “This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” At this point, Jesus took on an awareness of his mission here on earth as never before. There should be something that happens to each of us that will break us from a land of meaninglessness to a world of meaningfulness. Each one of us should see our real mission here on earth and set out to open the eyes of those about us.