1968 School Magazine

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."All nzen are ready to inuest their money But most expect diuidends. I say to you: make perfect your will I say: take no thought ol tbe baruest, But only ol proper sowing." - A man may look at a leat and observe the shape, colour, and feel the texture. He can ap- preciate the _way in which it carries and possess plant food, but as he traces the delicate veins and marvels at the intricate harmony of this tiny machine, he senses that this is only a manifestation of something beyond, that it is ihe outward and visible sign of an inward and even more intricate h-armony. Man has not had to be taught to feel this deeper presence, but the heritage oiconsidera- tion that is passed from generation to generation, has made and will make him more and more sensitive to the manifestations of this deeper presence. He is growing more and more aware that these feeling cannot be ignored nor considered unimportant; if he completely reiected them he would no longer be man, he would be a puppet with dangling strings. 'Whoever placed man in the midst of life g_ave him the ability to feel the presence of some- thing beyond and the attributes which enable him to follow his feelings. If he scorns these feelings he scorns his own nature and will live an unthinf- ing life. History has shown, however, how hard it is to follow these feelings. A man like Shelley "beats his starred and silvered wings" and in ecstasy thinks his glimpse of light is only the be- ginning, but then he falls back, his beautiful but frail wings bruised. Yet all those, scientists and poets alike, who have broken their hearts and their lives on the threshold of reality have not d9n_e s9 in vain, and humanity show little sign of heeding the warning of past sufferings aid retreating to safety from the challenge of the mystery it can feel. Perhaps this is the purpose m-ag is looking for, for himself : to seek the purpose of life. This might seem to have little connection with T. S. Eliot's lines, but he was a man rvho spent most of his life striving for,a "metaphysical reality" and even if these ,lines might at- first appear to apply only to modern materialism and grief, I feel sure they have a much deeper meaning for modern civilization. I have just said that man has shovzn few signs of retreating to safety but this is not generally tfue of men to-day. Past suffering has been caused by the apparent futility of passing eternity, but we now feel that eternity is more endlessly indifferent to our insignificance

than our ancestors ever conceived. !7hat we must remember when we read the terrifying pro_ positions of Jeans, js that man's statul cannot be measured by mere size. This awareness of infinity only brings man's courage to fall and defy it nearer to perfection. Modern confusion is not a signal for defeat; it could instead help to make perfect the human spirit-to make periect man's will. Man strives to find _this ,.something beyond" because he is not entirely satisfied witi w-hat is apparent, but he does not know what he is striving fo.. It is hidden by a mist that is always changl ing; some times it seems to be lifting b,rt then It falls again. \(/e cannot take into ionsideration the harvest and sow only to produce this harvest, because we cannot know what harvest we want. Humanity is at present rcalizing not without bitter- ness, that the civilization it has been building in the_last century or so, with the certainty that f,ere at last was the answer to ancient hopes, is not what it wants. Man is a stranger in- the world he has created and it is making ioo clear the fact that he does not know himself. He will only really know himself when he has found the reality he is striving for. Here then is the crux of the problem. Few modern men have sufficient faith in their existence as men to overcome their fears and scepticism about a life dedicated to the uncertainty oj i.rn., fe-elings without the assurance of even a true goal. They turn their attention.to more worldlv harvests and ry to persuade themselves they are huppy, that they are making the most o{ thiir lives. -In the final assessment, however, the value of a human life is measured by how much it has helped to keep the human spirit alive and how -.,ch it has helped humanity on the long road to that "something beyond". Although the sustenance of human spirit is providgd -by all humanity, it is really an intensely individual concern. The light of human spirit m-ay -want or strengthen, but it is always made up of thousands of pin-pricks of light, like glow- worms en masse. One prick of light could carry the fire to the next generation, and each prict must defy eternity alone. Brotherhood can com- fort and encourage, but in the end, it is the in- dividual that wants. That is what is so wonder- ful about this human will. We all reach different heights of joy and different depths of despair but each one of us can work in his ovrn way, at his own speed, using his own gifts, to "make perfect his will." _HELEN ANDERSON

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