Evening star., 1959-06-07
SPIRES OF THE SPIRIT
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wife that he was D great
man. Instead Of the compli-
ment going In one ear and
out the other, the designa-
ton great" stuck pleasingly
In the consciousness Of the
one thus labeled. The fem
mime companion Of the years
evidently was not sufficiently
impressed by the crown thus
offered her spouse to make
any comment regarding It.
However. on the way home,
betraying the thought lurk-
ing In his mind. he sud-
denly asked. How many
great men do you suppose
there are In American" The
debating reply was. "Of
course, no one knows that.
but ! imagine there Is one
less than you think"
Well, there are many cri-
terra Of greatness. but that
pedestal is never reached by
those who. puffed up by
pride at their own assumed
qualities, attempt to mount
it by the stepladder Of de-
traction Of others. ruthless
advancement to selfish goals,
and exaltation Of their own
virtues. Every truly great
person forgets himself into
greatness.
Up to the time Of Jesus,
the greatest was he who was
served by the largest retinue.
But the Master Teacher re-
versed all that when He
said, "The greatest is he who
serves the most" The Great
Nazarene stood on the ethical
dividing line Of the centuries
as He declared In the most
daring and revolutionary
standard Of excellence that
has ever been proclaimed BY
human lips, "Ye know that
the princes Of the Gentiles
exercise dominion over them
and they that are great ex-
ercise authority upon them.
But it shall not be SO among
you. But whosoever will be
great among you, let him be
your minister. and whosoever
wiz be chief among you, let
him be your servant"
1t was that new conception.
working like leaven in the
appraisals Of society many
hundreds Of years later in
France, that by popular vote
overwhelmingly put the crown
Of greatness on the brow Of
Louis Pasteur. servant of hu-
n1anity, asking nothing for
himself, rather than on the
other candidate. Napoleon,
who had used his fellows as
bleeding steppingstones to his
own enthronement.
Edna Ferber lifts UP the
vital matter of the dimen-
sions Of real greatness in her
searching novel, $50 Big" In
the fascinating story she tells
Of the early attempts Of Sc
lina's infant son to measure
himself. as with a gummy
smile he would stretch out his
chubby palms and with lips
like puckered pink petals,
would lisp. $1,000 big!" Then
the adoring mother would
swoop down upon him and
bury her face in the warm.
moist creases of his neck, and
making as though to devour
him, would echo. so big. I"
But alas. the prophecy Of the
widespread arms did not come
to pass. The son never be-
came as big. as the extended
arms Of her love and imagi-
nation would have him grow.
Later in the narrative the
child. now grown, facing test
ing decisions which revealed
his real size, was conscious
that his mothers inquiring
and often disappointed eyes
were upon him. The grown
man was compelled more
than once to confess can
didly. Not so big"
How true it is Of every
one Of us, that when we try
certain ideals on for size,
we often face the disillusion-
ing revelation that we are
too small for the garments
we thought would At us. In
such moments, when we see
ourselves as we are, we are
compelled to say, mot so
big" as we pour contempt on
all our pride. How often we
say Of another we may be
watching as he Is being
tested for size. 81 thought he
was bigger than that" And
how often in our own case
when we are compelled to