Magyar Egyház, 1971 (50. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1971-11-01 / 11. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 13 MAGYAR CHURCH Thanksgiving: The Search For A National Purpose During his presidency, Dwight D. Eisenhower came to the conclusion, that the United States of America seemed to be drifting. The ideals of the past were forgotten by a nation bent on world leadership. He found the religious leaders as divided as the rest of the people. So he called upon outstanding Americans to respond to his plea for the rediscovery of our national purpose. The responses he received were disappointing. There was no unifying idea presented: everyone believed that there should be a national purpose, but no one had the vaguest idea of what it was. Churchmen led the crowd in presenting purely secular solutions to the nation’s pressing needs. In the end poor Mr. Eisenhower found himself no better off than when he began his quest. A deeply divided nation no longer searches for a purpose: it seeks to retain its unity through compromise and the usual political doubletalk. The success of the establishment is complete and the nation fears another inflationary spiral and continuing unemployment. What, you may ask, has all this to do with Christianity? Shouldn’t the church stick to its own business—religion—and leave national affairs to those in the know? Perhaps our problem is due to the fact, that believers have not been as involved as they should. Perhaps our society is Christian in name only, and Christians in public life have forgotten their primary allegiance in their search for approval. If nothing else, Thanksgiving must remind all of us of the great heirtage we have inherited. The early colonists were not impractical idealists. They sought to establish a divine commonwealth in this land. They took their Bible seriously and their meeting house, the church, was the place where both religious and secular activities were conducted. They recognized no division between God’s work and man’s work. This unity was broken by historical factors. The multiplicity of sects led to the relegating of church activities to a secondary place. And here they have remained ever since. The past fifteen years have taught all of us, that the nation, that lacks a clearly defined set of values and ideals, will go down in defeat. The communist powers know what they believe in and how they intend to gain their ends. What have we to offer the world as an alternative to their tyranny? Our every act of reconciliation is viewed as a sign of weakness. Our greatest need is for a cogent and powerful statement of where we stand as individuals and as a nation. As Christians, we are committed to the development of a national purpose. We seek to strengthen our individual congregations and our denomination. We long to work together, in unity, with Americans of all religious backgrounds, to present a common witness of faith. And our source of inspiration, as that of the Pilgrim fathers, is the Living God. Can we succeed? A handful of students at Oxford prayed and saved Eighteenth Century England from bloodshed. Their experience of faith led to the organization of the Methodist Church, and the winning of millions of poor people to the cause of Christ. A handful of revolutionaries were expelled from Germany during the First World War and sent to exile in Russia. Within a few years their Bolshevik movement seized power, and has since terrorized the entire world. Can we succeed? Do we intend to, or do we still believe that great changes can only be effected by large groups? The search for a national purpose will probably not begin in the White House or in any state legislature. It will begin when enough individuals set out io do more than bemoan the present. It will begin when we realize that the key words in our New Testament are verbs like DO and GO. Charles A. Darocy
