by Dr. William Ward Ayer
Where Are You Going?
this we will solve the riddle of the ages. In the death chamber when a soul stirs feebly in his tenement of clay and then departs leaving eyes that are wet with tears and hearts that sigh for the touch of a hand and the sound of a voice that is still, we ask, “What is man?” We look at what has been a living being and suddenly has be come a lump of clay to return to dust, and we ask, “What is man?” Shake speare says man is “dressed in a lit tle piece of authority. He is most ig norant. He, like an angry ape, plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven as to make angels weep.” Yes, man seems to be a combination of an gels and demons. The only real an swer to the question, however, is to be found in the Word of God. In or der to know how to run his life, man must consult this Book. Every ma chine man builds has a book of in structions. The Bible is the Guide telling all about man, what is wrong with him and how he can get things right. Is there a limit to which man can go in the use of forces resident in creation? Jesus said that as we see
I never been at a higher level of sci entific and economic development. Millions are being spent for space travel. Supersonic planes will soon be carrying passengers at three times the speed of sound. Man is expected to live above the earth as well as under the sea in comfort and plenty. The span of life seems to be lengthening. Many diseases have been, or are about to be, conquered. In our country we have in the makings a great society with poverty managed, the sick hos pitalized, and highways made beauti ful. The tragic thing, however, is that while we are conquering space, man has not learned to conquer himself. Crime mounts far beyond the power of law enforcement to control it. While our youth run rampant in many places, mountainous national debts pile up. The question I can hear the Lord asking is, “Little man, where do you think you’re going?” We need to ask, as did David of old, “What is man that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” In the study of man, we need to face the questions squarely, “What is man? Is he reliable? Should he have this power? Will it destroy him?” Al ready we have come close to the brink of a terrible nuclear war. Man seeks conquest of earth, air, sea and sky. Man builds his towering cities to the skies. He is humanitarian in building hospitals and orphanages and a mul titude of other kind acts. Then, like a fiend, he rises in wrath and makes the world a veritable hell in time of war. What is this creature? David queries, “When I consider thy heav ens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast or dained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” In answering
Professor Edwin H. Heppner, director of the Biola Chorale, which will be heard in concert during March (see page 33).
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