Magyar Egyház, 1971 (50. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1971-03-01 / 3. szám
8 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ LENT’S PURPOSE SHALL WE BE PRISONERS OR FREE? Another Lent has come. But we can predict that it won’t be what it used to be. The life of the average Christian today goes on at the same pace during the six weeks of Lent that it does the rest of the year. He goes to the theater, parties and dances, has weddings and receptions and is not terribly surprised if his church group sponsors an evening of pleasure in the middle of Lent. The average Christian practices abstinence only occasionally and then largely to reduce his waistline. His spiritual exercise, both public and private, are not greatly different from what they are the rest of the year. Whether all this is good or bad, the facts remain. The tempo of modern life for most Christians is too fast to expect them to “keep Lent” in the strictest way. SO I DO NOT enter a plea that we return to “the good old days.” Nevertheless, there is a great opportunity for spiritual growth in Lent for those willing to make deeper commitments to worship, study, prayer and service. Robert Frost has written some poetic lines with deep insight into the genius of this nation — lines he himself read at the Kennedy inauguration: “Something we were withholding left us weak Until we found out that it was ourselves We were withholding from our land of living And forthwith found salvation in surrender.'” That is the secret of greatness in the life of a nation, a church or an individual. THE SEASON OF LENT SPEAKS to the condition of unsurrendered hearts. It is a time of renewed dedication to worship and private prayer, to study and intellectual growth, to compassionate care and service in the community. Every year I live I am more convinced that the waste of life lies in the love we have not given, the powers we have not used, the selfish prudence that will risk nothing and which, shrinking pain, misses happiness as well. No one ever yet was the poorer in the long run for having once in a lifetime “let out all the length of all the rein.” That is what we seek for Lent. It still has a place in your life. ☆ ☆ Ladies and Gentlemen, Countrymen All! It is indeed fitting and proper for us, American citizens, the naturalized as well as the native horn, to gather here and reflect upon the example of patriotism, dedication to the ideals of independence and love of freedom, which was set for us by the March 15th, 1848 spirit of Hungary. To fully appreciate this event, which cataclysmically thrust itself upon the stage of history, one must understand the fervor which had been sweeping the entire continent of Europe, and particularly those nations of independence, which were exerting great influence upon the Hungarian consciousness, soon after the Congress of Vienna in 1814 and 1815. The ensuing half century in the history of Hungary stands almost unparalleled in the history of nations. This period is known as Hungary’s Reform Era. Count Széchényi, the first here and protagonist of the period who had earlier been greatly impressed by the British system of constitutional monarchy as well as industry, in 1825 donated his entire year’s income to the establishment of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Learning and the Arts, as a trend setting example of patriotism. He introduced economic reforms, which were quickly followed by political ones. However, he was not moving as quickly, nor was his personality as dashing as that of Kossuth, who began to captive the young with his demands, for freedom now, from the absolutism of Austria’s Metternich. Though, Kossuth was imprisoned for a year, by 1847 his following outranked that of Count Széchényi. When news of the French Revolution in 1848, reached Vienna, ferfor had increased to such a level, that it was sufficient to inflame the young to revolt there on March 13th, and to reach its highest pitch in the spectacular national demonstration of March 15th, 1848 in Budapest. The feeling was most aptly put to words in the National Song by Sándor Petőfi, which I have freely transliterated as follows: Arisa Hungarian, your country heed! In her hour of grievous need Shall we be prisoners or free That’s the question, how say ye By the God of Hungary we swear, we swear! That imprisonment we will no longer bear! This outstanding speech received great attention when it was presented by the author on the March 15th celebration at our Akron church.
