Milford chronicle., 1958-01-31
Stronger Stakes
by Rev. Edward KuhImann

~ Ian aLu
'III fares the land, to Fastening
ills a prey, Where wealth accumu-
lates land men decay
Some months ago, as I turned
the little black knob of my tele-
vision dial, amid the wslter of SUM-
dry news dispatches, I heard men,
tion of the demand of the Lebanon
mountain people for freedom from
foreign mandates and a fuller mea-
sure of autonomy. This carried my
memory back to a time when | left
this area on a primitive railroad
that snakes its crooked way from
Damascus southwark toward the
Sea of Galilee.
AS we journeyed along we noted
groups of black tents nesting low
against the hillsides. Some were
small and tattered; others large
and quite pretentious. l wondered
if shelters like this served the
needs of Abraham, Isaac and Jac-
OBJ, and their children, when this
land was theirs. They were a no.
madic people who dwelled in tents.
God pr55pered them with increas-
ing f1ocks and herds and many SER
wants. AS they prospered, it is
easy to suppose that they marked
their greater affluence by the pos
session of larger tents. This re-
quired stronger stakes to anchor
them against the wind
And now, across the span OF
many miles and decades of time
go with me to Chicago as l walk
ed, some years ago, the darkened
streets of the wholesale district
of this city. Great skyscrapers sill
houetted themselves dark and
black against the sky. How large
they seemed-how high! And then
| remembered reading that, when
they were making the excavations
for one of these buildings, from
a deep imbedding the steam shov-
ell brought forth sundry assort-
ment of arrow heads, copper ves-
| sells and other relics in mute evi-
dence of the fact that some hun
| dred and more years ago an Indian
had pitched his tent here And as
eager hands searched the shovers
burden for other finds, to one
mans fingers came skull. II
probably was his to whom these
unearthed things had once be-
| longed.
Now let us suppose that life
could come back to this old-time
Indians bones, that eyes would re-
turn to this skulls empty sockets
what strange things these eyes
would see! When last they served
their owner they looked upon other
Indian tents, tents that were close
at hand. Low they were and small
And now? Now white mems tents
of steel and stone rise majestically
high with impressive width OF
span.
As we think about it-this
change that little, more than q
century has wrought-we cannot
but exclaim: "Oh, how man has
enlarged his tentsi" Modern inven.
tions, increased opportunities fol
education, the development of sci.
ence and kindred forms of modern
progress have immeasurably en-.
larged, not only our dwellings, but
even more our lives. Indeed, we
have stretched the ropes of oul
| tents to ever farther reaches. Ano
we would not decry this; we would
in no way disparage the progress
man has made. We would only ac.
cent that all it not gain; much o1
it is fraught with deep-going haz.
ards.
A tent that rises ever higher ano
higher against the wind without
ropes strengthened and stakes
driven deeper goes down. There.
fore, with our widened liberties and
| greater riches we dare not forget
| that, unless we correspondence
strengthen our moral and our spir.
itual foundations, the whole struc,
ture of our boasted civilization may
come tumbling down about our ears
as did the old Philistine banquet
hall when Samson broke it's pillars
See, yonder stands a decrepit
Model T Ford with a weak and
spindly steering wheel. Back of il
is parked sleek, highly polished
deeply cushioned automobile. I'm.
derneath its hood is a motor o
tremendous power. Would The
builder of this car dare to use {
steering wheel no stronger thar
that of this ancient Ford? o.
course not; that would spell dis
aster. The steering mechanism O.
any car must be strengthened as
the power of the motor is increased
What picture of our modern
civilization We are socially sleek
have acquired plenty of education.
al polish, sit deeply cushioned il
ease and prosperity, our financia
and industrial powers are the envy
OF the world, but-and this is i'm.
portant-we have weakened rather
than strengthened our moral ant
our spiritual steering wheels
Crime is rampant, divorces multi.
ply, youth is delinquent, drinkine
and immortality have become a ma.
tional scandal. What can be done
to remedy lhis sad state of affairs
think che sacred writer of the
Old Testament gives us the only
right answer. Here it is: "If my
people, who are called by my
name, shall humble themselves and
pray, and seek my face and turn
from their wicked ways, then will
| hear from heaven and will for
rrTx lr..