Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-20
SEES SPIRITUAL
ADVANCE IN BIG
AIRSHlP GAME
FELLOWSHIP MINISTER TAKES
LESSON FROM AVIATION
CONQUEST OF AIR MARKS EPOCH
in HUMAN ENDEAVoR
Another Step in Evolution of Mankind
Taken-Human Race Now Stand
ing on the Threshold of
Higher Things

The Spiritual Significance Of the
Airship" was the subject of the ad-
dress by Reynold E. Blight, the minis
ter of the Los Angeles Fellowship, at
Blanchard hall yesterday morning. lie
said
This is a spiritual universe, and the
multitudinous and varied forms of ma
ture are manifestations of spirit, and
apart from spirit they have no exist
ence Every material thing has a spir-
itual sigificance. Life is discordant
contradictory and meaningless until
this fact is recognized. Therefore it is
rational to ask what spiritual meaning
is expressed I'm the recent marvellous
achievements in aeronautics.
In the last analysis everything is
measured in spiritual values. A dollar
Is meaningless simply as silver or gold
Nor do we get much nearer its real
value when we express it in terms of
commodities, food, books, pleasures-we
merely transmute it's substance. When
we recognize II as spiritual symbol
il fairly EloWs with meaning. Magma
Charta is not simply an agreement be-
tween the barons and their king; it is
the foundation of Anglo Saxon liberty.
institutions must also be judged by
spiritual standards. When they are
litical or social relations they become
letters to bind the human mind, and
are obstacles to progress. For in
stance, one of the sublime institutions
of America is the federal constitution
1t stands pre-emlnent among the po-
htical documents Of the race. Con-
Strue II narrowly, literally; emphasize
its letter. set 1t up : "A hard and fast
legal authority, and il becomes a clog
upon the wheels of progress and
menace to the peoples liberty. Under
stand its spirit, test legislation by it's
moral principles amend il from time
to time as larger knowledge and
changing conditions require, and ii be-
comes beacon light Of undimmable
splendor in whose illuminating rays
the nation may rejoice.
The airship, marking the beginning
of mans conquest of the air, inaugu
rates new epoch. 1t IS another ster
i'm the evolution of man. His rise to
power and mastery may be readily
traced in clearly defined ascending
bteps from the stone age to the age of
steam, the present age of electrically,
to the age of aeronautics at whose
threshold we now stand. Coincident
with these epochs we may trace GER
tain social and moral movements.
Steam saw the birth of nationalism-
Russia, Germany, Italy. Electricity
set men dreaming of big things, and
democracy has been realized, and with
it internationalsm, illustrated by
peace conferences and nation-binding
treaties, and the appearance of world
conscience, the greatest achievement
Of man up to date. Aeronautics sym
bolize the social conscience, of which
we are becoming dimly conscious, and
which, when 1t is full grown, will rev.
olutionize all existing institutions,
"The airship is a tribute to the insa-
table ambition Of man, his invincible
determination to be the master of the
universe and the illimitable resource
of his mind He is binding the finer
forces of nature to his will, and the
whiring pathways of the air become
the bearers OF his chariots. 1t Is the
God in him coming to full conscious
ness There is no physical problem too
intricate for his brain, no law too OBJ
scure for his discernment, no force too
subtle for his touch, no achievement
too lofty for his dreams, and by the
same token he shall solve every social
problem, adjust every commercial In
Justice, untangle every intellectual
ravel and rise to the highest height of
moral and spiritual triumph. This he
shall do, individually and collectively