Tárogató, 1946-1947 (9. évfolyam, 7-10. szám)

1947-01-01 / 7. szám

14

TÁROGATÓ

and creeds within the precincts of one school, the casual observer would expect to find a considerable amount of friction and even violent antagonisms. But the remarkable thing is that these are almost completely non-existent. Each student is evaluated, not by his race, religion, or material possessions, but by his own intrinsic worth as demonstrated in his life and actions. A girl, for instance, when asked out by a boy, is not so much concerned with his race or religion as with what kind of a chap he is: Is he co-operative? Is he sensible? Will he have the right standard of conduct toward her? Recently an American girl was heard to say of an Anglo-Indian boy: “I think he is the finest boy in our class, the most thoughtful, the most courteous, the most considerate of the girl he is with, the most concerned, when he is in a group that every one should have a good time.” Thus each •student takes his place in the arena of school life, and that in him which is worthy of survival survives.

Of course, there are vigorous debates and hot discussions of problems arising out of the life of the school. But, unusual as it may seem, these discussions are of a healthy variety centering about questions of cultural standards, intellectual achievement, and moral conduct. Race or religion or economic status rarely enters into the picture. Judgments made or dicisions reached in all these questions are based upon a fine moral code which has been evolved through the years, and which has become a firmly established and generally accepted tradition. The result is that in all student activities and projects, the prevailing atmosphere is one of cooperation; there is a school spirit that is unique in its loyalties, an esprit de corps knitting the group together which is as fine as any in the world.

School Proves Possibility of Harmonious Living

Thus Woodstock School in northern India seems to demonstrate that it is possible for people of all races and creeds and social status to forget these distinctions and live together harmoniously. This has been achieved largely because the men and women who have

been responsible over a period of nearly a hundred years for moulding Woodstock’s spirit and for building up her fine moral traditions have been, not only well qualified academically for their tasks, but also men and women primarily concerned with living life responsible to God and Him Who delights in the fellowship of man. Man as a puppet who reacts to a divine pulling of strings seems hardly the creature delineated in the Bible as made in the image of God. The last words in the programme of life dictated by such an attitude must be quietism, renunciation or withdrawal.

Third, there is the answer of what we choose to designate as that of responsible citizenship which is neither an unqualified affirmative nor an unqualified negative. The answer here is given in terms of man’s freedom with moral responsibility in relation to the primary fact of God’s grace as constantly present and operative, offering man and society the opportunity for redemption. Man’s freedom is not exercised in a vacuum but in a universe whose mightiest reality is a concerned, capable, and compassionate God. Equally, God’s grace and redemptive power are not revealed or offered in a vacuum but to a personality made in His image and therefore the possessor of both freedom and responsibility.

Those who say “society can be saved” are concerned that man should realize that the first place belongs to God, Who has done for man what he could never have imagined, let alone have achieved by himself. But they are also exercised lest man should escape the obligation and responsibility for accepting the consequences of this truth. The acceptance of this brings self-renunciation and consecrated activity which the religious technicians call stewardship. The members of this category would agree that society cannot save itself by itself, but they would not concur in the opinion that it cannot be saved, or that personal decisions and human activity are meaningless in the process of its redemption.

The Statement of Faith which was published some years ago by the Board of Evangelism and Social Service is no more a creed or official belief of the Church than is this article, but it has