The Pulpit Speaks: November 16, 1957

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

During His lifetime, Jesus said on one occasions, “I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

I wonder at some point in each of our lives if we should not come to that same place in our thinking. What a different world this would be if each of us were to think in terms of making like more abundant for someone else. I suspect that much of the confusion so prevalent now would be over! But, tragically, in my thinking, far too many of us, even when we think of the abundant life, think only in terms of our life.

History reveals that through the ages there have been outstanding men who have forsaken their all for the cause of others. Unfortunately, there have been far too many of these men and they are too far apart.

A few nights ago, one of the local ministers, Dr. W. Herbert Brewster, made this statement:”When we should show up, there are too many of us who are satisfied merely to show off.” This statement is very revealing and most characteristic of many people of our day and time. When we should be somewhere showing up for some worthwhile cause, we are somewhere else, showing off.

COMPROMISE

I fear that, when a complete analysis of current world conditions is made, we will find that, in far too many instances, men and women who are in high positions fail to exhibit the moral and spiritual convictions that they should. It is a pity that those who have been able to move into places of importance have done so minus the moral and spiritual fortitude so badly needed in this day and time.

Sometimes I wonder if people are not too prone to compromise in the discharge of their duty and in preservation of their position. I fully realize that in some instances, compromises are necessary and essential. But no man should go around doing it all the time.

The urgency of the jobs they are to perform make it mandatory that these men and women have moral and spiritual insights that will enable them to make the abundant life possible for all of those with whom they come in contact.

TOO MANY FAILURES

Many times, as I view the present scene, it seems that the responsibilities attached to the work of true leadership is more than most of us can pay if we, like Jesus, are going to be proponents of the abundant life. First of all, that abundant life must be a definite part of us. Unfortunately, there are far too many people in places of responsibility who have failed to come to grips with the more abundant aspects of life themselves.

We cannot project into the life of someone else those things that we do not have ourselves. The statement, “How can we teach that which we do not know or where can we lead when we do not know” becomes very important in this day and time.

In a like manner, how can we mold the lives of others when we have failed to adequately mold ours? Our world today needs men who are strong – strong in thought, strong in conviction, strong in determination, and strong in their deep-seated sense of direction and value.

To improve the lives of our associates, we must first live the kind of life that will be challenging to all of those with whom we come in contact. The rising tide of human disorder in this day and time forces us to know that only the best lives are to make this a better world.

NOT OUTER SPACE

I was very much interested to note in a local paper this week that one writer had focused our attention not on throwing things into outer space, but on familiarizing ourselves with those things that are above outer space, so that our lives will be more beneficial to those about us. He continued that in many instances, we have so concerned ourselves with the conquering of the moon and outer space that we have failed to come to grips with space – the meaningful space that is up and above.

Only in proportion that we come to grips with the meaningful in this life will we be able to be meaningful ourselves.

That, in short, is the crux of all of our troubles, our dilemmas, and our confusions of today. We must associate ourselves with the things that make life meaningful and in the long run, we will be able to make the lives of others more abundant.