Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-05-27
CA LITTLE, SERMON FOR TEE WEEK END@

have led the world in the conquest Of
nature forces and In the development of
Institutions Of civilization. 1t is only the
Christ mind and the Christ heart that can
readily adjust itself to new conditions and
be nearly or quite fair to his fellow men
under all circumstances
The boy on the bicycle uid not know II.
but his episode is merely representative Of
a long list Of problems IT civilization AS
fast as the conditions Of life change and
a new feature is added there appears
whole swarm Of veX!nE questions that
must be decided New definitions OF rights
have 70 be made and the whole scheme Of
human responsibility revised accordingly.
What a lot Of questions the automobile
reused, Questions Of speed, questions Of
kind Of wheel and tire. questions Of road
rights and all that In many quarters the
new vehicle was met with ill-concealed or
even open hostility. 1t was an easy mat
ter for the man driving an auto to so
dashing through q farm yard, manning and
killing poultry, laughing as he dashes
away. But it was also easy for the farmer
boy to conceal few boards with nails in
them where they would do the most good
when the next auto came along This sort
of warfare could continue indefinitely; but
to what purpose? Far better was II to ad-
just ourselves to the new vehicle and ar
rive at some working basis 1t is far bet
ter for automobile drivers to learn that
others have some rights on the highway,
and for the farmer boy to learn that
malicious destruction Of property is not
the way to settle a grievance.
The wireless telegraph is here offering
Sreat possibilities. But its use has brought
ethical problems. In the midst of an i'm
portant government dispatch from Charles
ton navy yard to a government station on
Cape Cod a high school boy with his anna
teur plant broke in and hopelessly delayed
important government business. When
told TO keep out his reply was, who owns
the air anyway His answer was en-
tirely logical What problem for the
government and for science and for So
ciety to work on,
All sorts Of craft are beginning to navi-
gate the air. The long dream Of ages has
come true and the man-bird has arrived.
It will not be long until commercial and
military values viii emerge and the flying
machine business will be permanently es-
tabnshed a look ahead reveals the posi-
bility Of the question arising again. "Who
owns the air?" Laws will not settle these
questions. Laws help, but after the laws
are made there must be wisdom in in
terpreung larger brotherly charity in obey
ing them. Individual self-control and
brotherliness-that is the secret Of any
solution that will be thorough and perma-
nent.
Here is where Christianity solves the
problem. For we brethren were called for
freedom through love be servants
one to another" Have we not been called
into large liberty? What liberty of the
earth? What liberty of the sea? What
liberty of the air? 1t looks as II God had
just been waiting for men to manifest suf-
ficient interest in the powers and mysteries
of the universe so that one by one He
could reveal them. During the last fifty
years they have been disclosed with amaz-
ing rapidity. Every disclosure has made
for freedom of the Individual But ii is a
freedom that has brought responsibility.
Might IL not be that God has withheld
His mightiest secrets waiting for man to
grow strong enough for the responsibility?
Can He trust us now? Can He trust US
with engines of destruction for warfare
that would make a few hours battle
wholesale carnage? Can He trust us with
air craft able to carry sufficient explosives
to destroy a whole army or city? Can He
trust US with the mighty secrets of science
chemistry and electricity? Surely not I'M
less the love Of Christ so permeates society
that men will no longer desire to use these
forces against each other. Surely not, I'M
less brotherliness puts an end to greed
and savage hate among men. Through
love become servants one TO another"