The Pulpit Speaks: October 1, 1960

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

The fifteenth chapter of Luke carries an account of one of the most popular characters of the Bible, The Prodigal Son. The young man had interpreted his home life as one of confinement and deprivation. Day after day, he pondered what he could do to relieve himself of this confinement. Then one day a “bright” idea burst forth in his mind. According to Jewish law, at a certain stage in life the Jewish boy is entitled to a share of his father’s earthly wealth.To him this was the answer. The story from then on is familiar to all of us.

At last, this young man had achieved victory. He had come to a vantage point in life where he would be in full control. Life for him, like life for many of us, was greatly confused because he lacked a real definition of victory. What he thought was victory was not victory. Freedom from his father and mother did not constitute victory – it did not for him and it will not for us!

There are countless thousands today who are seeking victory. We want victory over our emotions, we want victory over our appetites, we want victory over our ambitions, and on down the line. As odd as it might seem, victory can never be attained in the manner some of us, or most of us, are trying to get it.

Like the Prodigal, many of us believe that the material acquisitions of this world will bring about victory. An equal number have realized through great bitterness that this will never bring about that victory for which we have toiled so long. In the terms of a recent author, “Visions of Victory” are sometimes blurred and confusing. Many times that which we think is the victory is far away from it.

Far too many people today think in terms of victories as those things that are tangible. The things which we can see, feel, smell, or adore fall within that category. The things that really bring us victory are not the tangible but rather the intangible. Victory is brought about or realized through the complete development of an appreciation of the things that are most meaningful in this world and the next. THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR THIS.

Try as we may, victory – a real victory – starts within. Only to the extent that we as human beings have come to grips with those things which will make us grow in spiritual and moral stature will we ever be able to enjoy a real victory. We get sick and get well and say this is a victory; we commit sins and get to the place where we can stop and call this a victory; we lose our desires to be greedy and the like and we call it a victory. But is it a victory? Sometimes we must stop and rethink the whole matter.

In the whole process of rethinking, we see things a little differently. What we thought was not or is not necessarily true. As we rethink, we are in a position to see ourselves in an entirely new way. Many times, a little stop along the way will make us see life as we never would have seen it. Today we need to stop and rethink our real sense of victory. The victories for which many of us reach are really not victories after all. We must reach for those things which have meaning – a meaning that would be eternally lasting. This and only this will add true meaning to our lives.

Contrary to the concept as held by the Prodigal, life reaches much further out than friends, money and good times. To him at this point, life was just this. But a little later, he comes to the conclusion that life was more than these fleeting things. There are those of us who have learned or will soon learn this – and the sooner the better. In this life, if we would be victorious, we must pursue those things which will enable us to grow up in the sight of men and God. Only to the extent that we grow in stature in the sight of God and Man will we ever be in a position to declare our victories here on earth.

Yes, we all have “visions of victory.” Sometimes, these visions are in the far distance but wherever they are, they must be in keeping with that which is highest and noblest.