Basic HTML Version
August-September 1970
"STOP
THE WORLD
.../
want to get off"
(Contimted from Page 14)
words? Sorne of them go like this, "Oh,
the gamcs people play, now ... never
meanin' what they say, now. Never
sayin' what they mean, now." That's a
mild way of admitting that people are a
pack of liars.
The song continues later: "Cross our
hearts and we hope to die" - we rnake
ourselves appear righteous and godly–
but, what do we say? "That the
OTHER
was to blarne. Neither one will ever
give in."
The song continues, "They're singin'
Glory Hallelujah! And they're tryin' to
sock it to ya, In the name of the
Lord." There we go again, using the
name of the Lord - but we don't really
believe Him or even
in
Him.
The song "Games People Play" asks:
"What's happening to you and me? God
grant me the serenity, To remember
who I a.m. 'C:tuse you're giving up your
sanity. For your pride and your vanity,
Turn your back, on humanity. And you
don't give a ..."
Yes, what is happening to us? Why
are wc so unhappy? Why are thcre so
rnany
f
rustrated lonely lives, so many
suicides? Who are we - we humans?
Why are we hcre? Where are we going?
Are therc any absolutes? Is there any
truth ? These are basic questions every
human longs to have answered. But
we live in an agnostic world. We admit,
"We just don't know."
Sorne Questions About Basics
Take "truth" for: example. Today,
we're being told there are no absolutcs.
Two plus two might no longer "equal"
four - but is "in the spectrum" of
four, whatever that means.
An ancient Roman magistrate once
asked a question about absolutes. His
name was Pontius Pilate. He asked
Jesus Christ, "Are you a king ?" Christ
answered, "To this end was I boro, and
The
PLAIN 1RUTH
for this cause carne I into the world,
that I sbould bear witness unto the
truth" - yes, the truth! Absolute truth.
Pilate asked, almost mockingly, "What
is truth?" (John 18:38.)
You rnight be ioterested in reading
the de.finition (John 17: 17). But Pilate
was schooled in the philosophies of
his day. He couldn't conceive of any
absolutes. And this kind of thinking
ultimately led to the crashing downfall
of the world's longest-lived empire.
What Is Truth?
After 1900 years we still don't know
what
THE
trutb is - what the true
values are, why we are here, our pur·
pose in life, what true moral values are.
In fact, we wonder, "What is truth ?"
and "ls there
su~h
a thing ?" But sorne of
the kids and sorne of the establishment
are beginning to
thin~.
They're asking
again, "What is Truth ?" And they're
asking it so insistently that the estab·
lishment wrote and sang the song
"What is Truth ?" Even you oldsters
may have heard Johnny Cash sing that
catchy tune.
Here's how the song put the prob–
lem. Note a smattering of the lyrics.
"A little boy of three, sittin' on the
floor Jooks up and says, 'Daddy, what
is war ?' 'Son, that's when people .figbt
and die.' A little boy of three says,
'Daddy, why ?' A young man of sev–
enteen in Sunday school, Bein' taught
the golden rule .. .''
What's the golden rule? Love your
enemies. But this seventeen-year-old
youth will soon go to war. He will
learn to hate and kill his enemies. Why
this paradox? You know the old prob–
lem: Both the Germans and Americans
prayed to the
same
God
to win World
War
1
for them. ls it any wonder,
sings Johnny Cash, "Can you blame the
voice of youth for askin' 'What is
Truth?'"
What about it? What is T ruth ? Are
there any absolutes? Does a Supreme
Beíng really exist? Or is He the ligment
of rnen's imagination who shaped God
in their image? Do our lives have any
meaning - any purpose?
Oc
is the
human race only one link in an endless
41
evolutionary chain? ls there nothing
beyond this life?
W hat Is Life All About?
Is human Jife a temporary, shadowy
thing? Is it like the words of the popu–
lar song "Aifie"? "What's it all about,
Alfie," asked singer Dionne Warwick,
"Is it just for the moment we live?
What's it all about when you sort it out,
Alfie? ... And if Ji fe belongs only to
the strong, Alfie, What will you lend
on an old golden rule?"
What
iJ
life all about?
Can man ever achieve his dreams of
happiness? Will there be no peaceful
Utopía of !ove, joy and happiness?
Will man end bis civilization? Is there
no way to achieve equality for all? Will
we never be free
oE
mental problems, of
ghettos? Can mankind achieve an abun–
dant Ji fe? Must we suffer the privations
of war, of poverty, of ugliness?
Is a rnillennium of joy really an
LMPOSSIDLE
dream? Why Ís Ít, though
hoping against hope for a better world,
we don't really believe it can be
achieved? Remember the song?
It
was
called "The
Impouible
Dream."
Can the Crooked Be
Made Straight?
lt
talked about wrongs so uNright–
able that no matter how hard we
fought, we would never overcome. Will
the fight put us in our
grave
-
to be
laid to our rest? Must we rnarch into
heii
for a heavenly cause?
Oc
can we
m:trch into a Utopia by iighting for a
heavenly cause? Must we follow the
quest: "No matter how
hopelns,
no
matter how far; To .fight for the right
without question or pause"?
Or can we ñght the good fight - and
find rest, peace and happiness ? Must it
be an
IMPOSSIBLE
dream?
Must we sing "Those
W
ere
the
Days"? Can't we sing it in the present
and future - "These
ARE
and
WILL BE
the days"?
Can we laugh away the hours, and
experience the great things we want to
do? To know they will never end - so
we can real!
y
sing
"forever
and a day"?
We sing about and long for the good