GOD LEFT CHALLENGE IN THE EARTH
By Dr. Allan A. Stockdale
When God made the Earth, He could
have finished it. But He didn't. Instead
He left it as a raw material --to tease
us, to tantalize us, to set us thinking and
experimenting and risking and adventur-
ingl And therein we find our supreme
interest in living.
Have you ever noticed that small
children in a nursery will ignore clever
mechanical toys in order to build with
spools andstrings and sticks and blocks,
a world of their own imagination?
And so with grown-ups, too. God
gave us a world unfinished, so that we
might share in the joys and satisfaction
of creation.
He left the oil in Trenton rock.
He left the aluminum in the clay.
He left the electricity in the clouds.
He left the rivers un-bridged-- and
the mountains un-trailed.
He left the forests un-felled and the
cities un-built.
He left the laboratories un-o'pened.
He left the diamonds un-cut.
He gave us the challenge of raw ma
terials, not the satisfaction of perfect,
finished things.
He left the music un-sung and the
dramas un-played.
He left the poetry un-dreamed, in
order that men and women might not be
come bored, but engage in stimulating,
exciting, creative activities that keep
them thinking, working, experimenting
and experiencing all the joys and durable
satisfactions of achievement.
A man in Florida turned a miserable
old green-water swamp, mosquito-in
fested and snake-inhabited, into a beau
tiful garden.
Once a sanctimonious visitor, who
was inspecting it, exclaimed, "Oh, dear
brother, what a beautiful garden you and
the Lord have made from that swamp'."
"Yes," came the reply, "but you
should have seen it when the Lord had it
all by Himselfl"
So it is with all the world. There
is no Shangri-La where our every want
can be supplied by wishing. There is no
substance to the philosophy of "getting
by." There is nothing worth while gain
ed by chance.
Work, thought, creation. These
give life its stimulus, its real satisfac
tion, its intriguing value.
In Oberlin, Ohio, there is a wood
shed, and by the woodshed, a grave.
There lies Charles Martin Hall. For
years he experimented in that woodshed
on how to get aluminum out of clay at
less than the then market price of $500
a pound. He risked his time and money.
He suffered discouragement after dis
couragement. But when at last he found
the way, he created an industry which
today employs a quarter million work
ers.
Each year thousands of high school
and college graduates leave their study
halls to seek jobs. A few with ability to
experiment will accept the challenge of
raw material as did Charles MartinHall.
In realizing their dreams they will enlist
the support of others with faith in them
and the courage to back that faith', at the
risk of their savings, through periods of
discouragement and disappointment. . .
Then management know-how will trans
late those dreams into buildings, ma
chinery, stable jobs — to make life better
for all Americans.
That is how ournationhas progress
ed from a wilderness frontier. That is
how we will reach a standard of world
civilization yet undreamed.
Progre ss comes, not by some magic
word and not by government edict, but
from the thoughts, the toil, the tears,
the triumphs of individuals who accept
the challenge of raw material -- and by
the grace of God-given talents produce
results which satisfy the needs of men.