Verhovayak Lapja, 1947 (30. évfolyam, 1-24. szám)
1947 / Verhovay Journal
Mo Time For Thanksgiving The day of giving thanks for the fruits of the good earth seems to be going the way of all holidays. As the Christmas message has been drowned out by the hollow guffaw of an unhygienic ‘Santa Claus’, and as the pilgrimage., to the open grave of the Resurrected has. turned into a competitive fashion-show, so the turkey and the pumpkin have come to usurp the place of the sentiment which they were intended to inspire. Originally, they had been mere symbols, visible tokens and reminders of 1 he Invisible, but humanity, increasingly intent on elevating material thiftgs to the throne to topmost values, is impatiently cutting the ties of dependence on uncontrollable Powers, before Whom it cannot maintain an attitude of arrogant selfsufficiency. For this is wherein Modern Man differs from the Pilgrim Fathers. They worked hard, much harder than an yon- else would be willing to work today . . . They faced obstacles of much more discouraging magnitude than those before our generation . . . They suffered need, endured want of a kind which is unknown to anyone in our age, except perhaps those who went through the very depths of suffering and deprivation in the war-torn countries . . . But they did thenwork, overcame the obstacles and endured the lack of the most primitive necessities . . . Yet, after that first harvest they did not raise their heads in a justifiable pride of accomplishment, but humbly bowed them in a prayer of thanksgiving to the Almig-hty, fully aware of the fact that all their toils and endurance would have been to no avail had He not permitted the seed to ripen into .a harvest of abundance, had He not given them courage and strength to face what seemed a superhuman task. This is the attitude Modern Man has shed, much to his detriment, both spiritually and materially. By gratitude the best of men remind themselves not to take any of their possessions for granted, nor to consider any of their achievements the natural reward of talent, effort and- industry. There are too many otherSj as industrious and deserving as they, whose efforts are blessed much less abundantly, if at all. Taking stock of his achievements, the sincere and wise, man of success will give thanks to God, if he is blessed with an awareness of His Creator, or he will candidly credit Luck, if his mind is unable to approach the Infinite, but in either case, he will not attribute all of his achievements to his own ingenuity and endurance. But Modern Man does just that . . . His dramatic technical and scientific achievements have convinced him of his self-sufficiency and invulnerability. For ever bragging about his material progress, he vaingloriously says: “I did it!” He will credit neither Providence, nor good fortune with the circumstances, that have made his advancement possible. No longer will he recognize superhuman difficulties, nor admit his weakness and dependency when facing them. Compared to his creative power and ingenuity, obstacles, dangers and complications are just pebbles to be kicked out of his way. Having successfully met many of life’s challenging' exigencies, he belittles their power to obstruct his progress. Whatever his goal, he feels' it is within his grasp, because “it’s all up to me:. . The belittling of difficulties, together with the conviction that it is up to man alone to overcome them, is one of the main sources of Modern Man’s troubles. It is because of this attitude, that his wife will declare him a failure and make his life miserable if he is unable to copy the examples of self-made industrialists who are the gods of our generation. It is because of this attitude that Modern Man becomes impatient with progress if it does not take him rapidly enough to prosperity. Since there is no obstacle that man’s power could not overcome, he can’t see why he shouldn’t be able to immediately attain his goal. As a result, each achievement is elittled, too, because it falls short of what could have been. Each forward step is sneered at because it has not carried to perfection. And because Man does not admit of circumstances beyond his own control, if conditions do not meet his expectations-- amt demands, someone is to he blamed for whatever is lacking. Thus, man turns against man, each attributing to the other the intent of obstructing progress for his own selfish ends. The theory of “unlimited opportunities for all” has soured Man’s mind for the appreciation of little- achievements. Convinced of the self-sufficiency of his powers, he wants to get rich quiek, he wants to make much money right away, with as little effort as possible, he wants to get well immediately, he demands a cure for all of his ills this very minute, regardless of whether or not this can be achieved without serious detriment to others. Ruthlessly grabbing for advantages, motivated by self-interest, driven by impatience, he runs the true course of all self-aggrandizers who are ever dissatisfied with what they have and unable to appreciate the onlytrue achievement, that of little, step by step, advancement. Thus, Modern Man is far from being happy. Far more happier than he were those pilgrims who had a healthy respect for the magnitude of their difficulties and an awareness of their dependency on the favors of invisible powers. Actually', Modern Man has no reason for his vain-glorious self-sufficiency. Those great men and women who, by their inventions, gave him increased power over some of nature’s forces, always were more humble than those who benefitted by' their genius. They never j lost consciousness of man’s insufj ficiency and dependence. But Mo- I dein Man, arrogantly assuming the products of ther minds as his own, refuses to follow them in their humility. In fact, enslaving them by' his demands, he expects them to work miracles and to create a perfect world. By' demanding the impossible of them, Modern Man over-Conlinued on page ? Pittsburgh Relief Concert An Outstanding Success — Music Critics Unanimously Acclaim Hungarian Artists’ Benefit Performance. — Dr. Otto Herz, accompanist, Enid Szantho contralto, Metropolitan Opera, Dr. Fritz Rehier, Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, honorary chairman of the Concert, and Alexander Sved, baritone, Metropolitan Opera, ar^ashown on the above picture, taken after the concert in Carnegie Music Hall, Pittsburgh, Pa., or. November 4th, which, sponsored by Chapter 117 of the American Hungarian Relief, Inc., won the unanimous acclaim of Pittsburgh's music crit’es. Edward Kilcnyi, internationaily famous concert pianist, who is not included in the picture, will he shown in th - next issue of the Journal. The concert did not start under favorable auspices. It was unfortunate, but could not be foreseen, that it fell right in the middle of a series of popular musical events. The famous piano quartet was scheduled to appear in Pittsburgh on the following evening and the presentation of Aida on the second night. Two day's of continuous rain, ceasing only a few minutes before the concert, added an another discouragement. Still, a festive crowd of nearly 900 streamed through the portals of Carnegie Music Hall on Tuesday evening, November 4th. As was expected, Hungarians predominated. They came in droves from the city as well as the surrounding communities, some even from as far as 70-XO miles, to listen to the great Hungarian artists and to help the orphans of Hungary. Soon they were seated, earnestly' studying the program booklet, whose cover, depicting a little girl, covered by a numbered rough quilt, sucking her little thumb and dreaming of toy's, sweets and music, was designed by artist Lewis Diera who, by similar contributions of highest artistic quality, has helped Chapter 117 of the American Hungarian Relief, Inc., ever since its inception. For a review of the concert, we quote, in justice to the artists, the reports of the music critics of the Pittsburgh daily press. Ralph Lewando, music critic of the Pittsburgh Press, under the headline “Pleasing Concert Benefits War Orphans, Audience” writes as follows: “The call for help of war orphans across the sea was answered with sympathetic response last night at Carnegie. Music Hall. Gathered there was v. larga audience to attend the delightful benefit concert sponsored by Pittsburgh Chapter 117 of American Hungarian It -lief. The honorary chairman of this event is Dr. Fritz Reiner, musical director of the Pittsburgh Symphony orchestra. The co-chairman are Albert A. Fiok and Julius Lenart. The musical artists participating in last night’s concert gave their services free. But their performance was admirable and the concert quality tops. Moreover, their popularity' was reflected in the demand tor encores which were given most generously. The performers were Alexander Sved, the eminent baritone of the Metropolitan; Enid Szantho, contralto who has sung at the “Met” and as soloist with major orchestras; and Edward Kilenyi, young American born pianist, whose playing- is highly energised. The accompanist for the singers was Dr. Otto Herz. His collaboration at the keyboard was masterly. Mr. Sved is the type of singer one listens to with fascinated interest. He is an artist of the first magnitude. His voice is as smooth as nylon throughout its wide extent. Whatever he sings is invested with fine restraint, and color that moves his listeners. His singing of “Eri Tu” fisom Verdi’s “Masked Ball” was a supreme expression of interpretative power. We wonder, and wonder, why a singer of Mr. Sved’s stamp has not been (Continued on page 2.1
