June 1945 School Magazine

June, 194S.

Brisbane G irls' Grammar School Maqa:zlne

Brisbane Girls' G rammar School Magazine

June, 1945

ed. The y utterly reject the palsy of the will whose strenuous exercise they realize to be life's main gift. The perpe tu a l failure of the mind to realize thought, of the heart to realize the ideal in an ear thly passion, such as ambition, leads the yearning human soul towards an infinite which transcends finite power. To every man or woman who can say, with Browning,- "A brute I might have b een but would not sink i' the scale," there comes at length an inspiration which appears as a revela- tion of the divine will, and, being such, is e ternal in its essence. They realize then that all good is of the same nature, and, though only partial now, is destined to persist, and form a pe rfect whole in the future. Evil is simply the discord that enhances the beauty of the coming concord and is destined to b e resolved in it; is, indeed, the evidence in its aspect of failure that pe rfection, and therefore success, is assured in the future. The conques t of despair in life 's course is only won by fealty to a great a im, to the Ideal. One can only maintain this fealty if one is prepared to welcome- "Each sting that bids nor sit nor stand but go", "For then" says Browning, "-a paradox Which comforts while it mocks- Shall life succeed in that it seems to fail". Life's defeats must necessarily be bitter. One a ims at a -star, austerely b eckoning in the otherwise darkened firmament. Such is man' s nature that he inevitably overestimates h is e arthly capabilities and strives unceasingly to achieve his self -pinnacled Ideal. But while , with the growth of human con- sciousness and the increase of knowledge, there comes to the soul greater capability for a chievement, the failure of physical powers shuts off the possibility of realizing success. Man's mortality is the barrier to complete realization of aims in Life . 1£, perchance, an earthly success is achie ved, the idea of im- mortality through one's works is invariably unsatisfactory to the individual . . VerY few can h ope for complete al)d soul-satisfying s1.,1c-: ces$ here, and necetsserily then a di...ryne unrest d rives men ·iG • pray fervently f9.r the r_ec;Ilization : of. \fl~jr -aim~ in_ a-. futl:!r~ · !if€!; · -a hereafter where earthly-striv ings and man's innate abilities a chieve .real success. True greatness, and therefqre. true · ~uc- · .cess, does not lie- iq one's ·mortal life, buf in the far-reaching ·· ~: I 16 .

after-effect of one's deeds. However, since it is permitted to few men to achieve on earth the fullest extent .of their powers and the greatest fulfilment of their aims, mankind as a whole centres all hope on the hereafter. To David, yearning to giv~ Saul greater comfort, even the assurance of a future resurrec- tion of life, the Truth appeared. In his own love, God was re- vealed to him as love, infinitely strong in His power to be loved, through which weakness He should become incarnate and be the salvation of mankind. "Saul the failure, the ruin he seems now- The man taught enough by life's dream, of the rest to make sure;- By the pain-throb, triumphantly w inning intensified bliss, And the ne xt world's reward and repose, by the struggles in th . " IS. It is stultifying to be lieve otherwise than that- "All we have willed or hoped or dreamed of good shall exist,' " for "What is our failure but a triumph's evidence For the fullness of the days?" I "Poor vaunt of life indeed," as Browning says, if man had no hope of fulfilment of h is dreams either here or hereafter. "Rabbi Ben Ezra" gives expression to a religious philosophy which recognises the perfeclrless of the divine plan in which love plays an equal part with powe r. This love is, in reality, faith in the future after death. Therefore, doubts and rebuffs. are welcomed as the divine means for perfecting the sou'I's groWth and shaping it for the glorification of the divine. Th9" very failure of man in the flesh, showing his infinite possibili- ties of growth, remove.s him forever from the brute , perfect on its plane, and gives assurance both of God and of man's tend- e ncy Godwards; from which follows the ce rtainty of God and the enduringness of the human soul. It is the human soul that strives to achieve on earth, and so, failing earthly success, achievement is assured in !he hereafter. It is the joyous faith in a future of soul~evelopment that repays a ll aims and striv- -ings with an exhilarating feeling of success. Af> Browning says,- . "On the e arth the broken arcs, in the heaven, a perfect round." -_Va lma BonnelL . -; ' 17

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