The Pulpit Speaks: Undated

An article written by my father, the Rev. C. Thomas Paige, as it appeared in the Tri-State Defender.This article is among several in the collection that is undated.

Time and time again, man rises to his highest heights, his shining hour. I use the term “rises” advisedly. As we see man day after day, we see him working on a level that is far below his highest capabilities. The time has come when men must do that which they are best fitted, morally and spiritually.

This week, society had the misfortune of seeing a young man attach and murder a girl of three years. This was tragic enough but when the father of the child made a radio broadcast and made an appeal for God’s mercy upon the man who had killed his daughter, we were fully aware that the first reaction to such an experience would be to become bitter. This was not his way out. Sometimes, may rises to a height that would otherwise never be realized except through the fact that he rises above those about him.

The fact that this man was able to approach the moment without bitterness caused him to rise far higher than he would have otherwise. Many times when we are able to so conduct ourselves that we are able to rise above the normal behavior expected of us, we place upon those about us a much deeper appreciation for the better things of life. We must be able to rise above the expected if life is going to be meaningful.

One of the most needed aspects of our world today is people who are able to rise above the pettiness so common among us. The world will never achieve the place of which it is capable when most of the people with whom we come in contact are filled with those features that prevent us from living life on its highest level. We must realize that life can be much more meaningful for all of us in proportion that we are able to rise above those things that will do nothing but make us smaller. No longer can we as individuals live within the confines of smallness and hope to make this world what it is expected to be.

Sometime ago, I listened to one of the great speakers of our day relate the story behind non-violent resistance in his country. He related some of the things to which people had been subjected to in this whole program. As I listened to him, I wondered how far I could go along with this pattern of things. Then a second thought dawned upon me: this is the position that must become a part of all of us if life is going to be meaningful to us. None of us will ever be able to rise to the standard for which we are destined if we allow bitterness and hate to propel us through this life.

This man who had lost one of his children through the uncontrolled desires of another was able to withstand the ordeal to the point that he nourished the memories of his child and then prayed to God for forgiveness on the part of the young man who had done him such a wrong.

Then the picture changes. The next time you see the young man who had committed the terrible crime, you see a man whose face is bathed in tears. It is my belief that these tears were the result of the talk given to him by the father of the child he had slain. Maybe he could have gone to this man very bitter and antagonistic, which would have brought on the same reactions on the part of the young killer, but when he went remorseful, the young man also became remorseful.

I wonder if this is not the spirit Jesus was presenting to His hearers when He informed them to forgive those who transgressed against them seventy times seven. Forgiveness at its highest level makes us just the same kind of person as this man. Then the same old question comes to all of us: just how non-violent and forgiving are we? I think that, somewhere down the line, each of us should stop and ask ourselves how do we fit into the picture of making this world a better place in which to live. How are we able to adjust ourselves to the adversities of life?

Years from today a man’s stature will be measured not by his bank account, his intellect, his home, or any of the other material things which he might acquire, but rather by his ability to know what is right and his having the ability to follow through with the same in deeds and actions. Men will become men only when they are able to rise up to those things that will cause them to grow in moral and spiritual stature.

When man’s eyes are opened to the extent that he is able to see the will of God, when man’s ears are opened to the extent that he is able to hear the voice of God, and when man’s growth has matured to the point that he is able to rise up to those things for which he is originally designed, then the peace, for which God’s only son came down on this earth, will be realized.

As bitter as some of our losses might be, as disheartening as it is to have one’s confidence in his fellowman thwarted, and as heartrending as it is for one to have his faith shaken because of the evils of society, when one can rise up above all of these things and see God’s will in action and identify himself with a part of this will, there is hope that this world will be a better place in which to live.

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