THE FUTURE OUTLOOK
J. F. JOHNSON Editor & Publisher
MISS EMMA P. JOHNSON News Reporter
L. A. WISE Staff Photographer
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March of Dimes
January is March of Dimes time in Greensboro and
Guilford County, as well as throughout the nation, and
volunteers will be campaigning for funds to finance re
search and treatment programs to conquer birth defects.
Birth defects is one of the major health problems
today. It is estimated that about 250,000 defective babies
are born each year in the United States. This means one
of every 16 children born has some serious birth defect
which can be a handicap throughout his life. The Na
tional Foundation, through the March of Dimes, is en
gaged in a wide and varied program aimed at finding ways
to reduce the toll from birth defects.
A portion of the money raised locally remains in the
community for use in aid to birth defect victims, and in
other programs. We should remember that when we give
to the March of Dimes we are helping ourselves, as well
as helping the unfortunate parents of children with birth
defects.
In the past year, the local chapter of the National
Foundation has granted several thousand dollars in aid to
help cover the costs of surgery and other medical treat
ment for babies with birth defects. In many cases, these
operations and treatment have helped to assure that a
child can grow up to lead a normal life, rather than being
handicapped by a birth defect.
The local chapter also contributes to the support of
the Birth Defects Treatment Center at North Carolina Me
morial Hospital, Chapel Hill. Dr. Loren G. MacKinney is
director of the Center. At the Center, a team of medical
experts uses their combined skills in seeking more effect
ive ways to treat birth defects. Children with particular
problems are brought to the Center, where they receive
individual therapy and attention.
Another activity supported by the Guilford chapter
are scholarships for young people preparing themselves
for careers in the health field. Each year, the chapter
awards eight scholarships valued at $500 each. The eight
young people to receive the scholarships are selected by
a committee of educators and community leaders. Any
young person in the county considering a career in health
may apply for the scholarships.
For many years, the March of Dimes concentrated
upon the problem of poliomyelitis. Finally, the discovery
of the Salk vaccine helped conquer polio as a threat to
children and adults.
The success in the fight against polio is an indica
tion of what we may look for in continuing programs of
research into the cause of prevention of birth defects.
However, the problem of birth defects is so complex, we
may not soon see anything as dramatic as the polio vac
cine. Recent discoveries in the area of birth defects do
give us reason for hope for the future.
The National Foundation continues to extend a help
ing hand to persons who suffer polio before the develop
ment of the vaccine. The Guilford chapter, for example,
still provides wheel chairs, braces, and other necessary
devices for persons crippled by polio.
A major event in the March of Dimes campaign is
the Mothers' March, which will be held late in January.
Hundreds of volunteers will go door-to-door, to request
contributions.
I hope everyone will give a friendly welcome to these
marching mothers. They ar giving their time and efforts
to help in an important way. For many people, this will
be the most convenient way to make their contribution to
the March of Dimes. All of us Involved in the campaign
will be most grateful for all contributions, large and
small
A large part of the work of the National Foundation
in regard to birth defects is through public education, to
help create* public awareness and understanding of the
program. For example, more and more people are now
coming to realize that there is much that can be done to
correct birth defects.
Today, unless there is irreversible damage to a vital
organ, it is nearly always possible to control the disease
resulting from a birth defect, repair the damage, or In
This Weed's Sunday School Lesson
That All Might Believe
WHAT IS OUR CONCERN?
The recent movie, Who's
Afraid of Virginia Woolf? has
caused much heated discussion.
This discussion usually centers
around the language used and
the frank or crude display of sex
in the all-night capers of two
college professors and their
wives. In our preoccupation with
these matters or in our admira
tion for the skillful acting of the
cast, we may overlook the sig
nificance of the fact that when
ever the characters are on the
verge of understanding them
selves as they really are, they
cover up this realization with a
frantic singing of a senseless
song, "Who's Afraid of Virginia
Woolf?"
Is this the best answer we can
find for the pain of life's ab
surdities? Is life as absurd as it
sometimes appears to be?
Another profoundly moving
film raises an even more dis
turbing question. In The Pawn
broker we see life in the heart
of a great city. Memories of the
horror of 'life in a Nazi concen
tration camp keep the pawn
broker from risking involvement
with persons around him. All the
characters are real and believ
able. Almost every human moti
vation and emotion is laid bare.
The disturbing impact of this
portrayal is how a person who
is wrapped up in his own tragic
past can hurt others.
Must life be this way? Is there
no greater refuge than our own
despair?
Many of us have reacted
Strongly to the currently popular
"death of God" theology. Some
persons have rushed to God's
defense. Others have said, with
a shrug, "I've suspected this was
true all along." Do not both
these responses reveal a high
degree of uncertainty about
God?
Less dramatically, but more
generally, many persons who
would deny any disbelief about
God live their lives and r ake
their decisions without any
thought of God.
The issue is this: How real is
God in our lives? What experi
ences do we have and can we
have that point us to certainty
about God?
BEFORE YOU READ
THE SCRIPTURE
John 20:30-31 Indicates that
the author of the Fourth Gospel
had as his purpose this evange
lizing objective: to bring persons
to believe that Jesus is the
Christ and through this belief to
find new life in his name.
This purpose is important to
have in mind as you begin to
study John 1:1-14. This passage
seems like a philosophical trea
tise or a poem with theological
impact. We need to remember
that these familiar and profound
words point us to Jesus, the
Christ.
A fact to keep in mind as we
read and study John 1:1-14 is
that this Gospel was being ad
dressed to a world that had been
greatly influenced by Greek cul
ture and Greek ideas. Four cen
turies had passed since Alexan
der the Great had made his
world conquest. During this pe
riod every means had been used
to bring the conquered peoples
to adopt Greek ways and ideas.
The coming of Roman civiliza
tion had not greatly changed this
cultural emphasis. If the Chris
tian gospel was to be understood
by persons outside the Jewish
faith, it had to be interpreted in
terms of Greek culture.
On the other hand, the Gospel
of John is not a Greek document.
Throughout the Gospel we find
many evidences of the writer's
rich Hebrew heritage. He may
have been speaking to a Greek
culture, but he was doing so as
one who drew deeply from the
wells of an Old Testament faithv
one who knew intimately the
history and expectations of
God's chosen people.
Overriding both his intent to
speak to persons who were
Greek in culture and his Old
Testament color and flavor was
the burning reality of the auth
or's experience of new life in
Jesus Cl^jgt. Without a full Real
ization of the depth of John's
faith in Jesus Christ, a reading
of his Gospel will not yield up
its true meaning.
WHAT THE
SCRIPTURE SATS
The Scripture for today is
John 1:1-42; 20:30-31. Selected
verses are printed below. See
Home Bible Study suggestions in
the back of the quarterly.
John 1:1-14
1 In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with
God; 3 all things were made
through him, and without him
was not anything made that was
made. 4 In him was life, and the
life was the light of men. 5 The
light shines in the darkness, and
the darkness has not overcome
it.
6 There was a man sent from
God whose name was John. 7 He
came for testimony, to bear wit
some other way restore the child to good health and a
creative life.
v There are still, of course, birth defects which are in
varibly fatal. In other cases, it may be best for both the
child and his family for him to be cared for in an institu
tion. But many, many children's lives are saved and then
made worth living . . . thanks to recent medical advances,
especially in early diagnosis and surgical techniques.
Prompt diagnosis and beginning of treatment can
often make the difference between control of a birth de
fect disease, and tragedy. Widespread use of the Apgar
score ? a technique for swift check on & baby's condition
in the first 60 seconds after birth ? is helping to spot
signs and symptoms of trouble requiring emergency ac
tion. Often this reveals defects easy to overlook until too
late. Outstanding examples of other new diagnostic meth
ods are blood tests for detection of body chemistry errors
in time to begin treatment before damage occurs.
The dime you give may help some child have a eh
A. _ II
ness to the light, that all might
believe through him. 8 He was
not the light, but came to bear
witness to the light.
9 The true light that enlight
ens every man was coming into
the world. 10 He was in the
world, and the world was made
through him, yet the world
knew him not. 11 He came to
his own home, and his own
people received him not. 12 But
to all who received him, who
believed in his name, he gave
power to become children of
God; 13 who were born, not of
blood nor of the will of the flesh
nor of the will of man, but of
God.
14 And the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us, ' full of
grace and truth; we have beheld
his glory, glory as of the only
Son from the Father.
John 20:30-31
30 Now Jesus did many other
signs in the presence of the dis
ciples, which are not written in
this book; 31 but these are writ
ten that you may believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
God, and that believing you may
have life in his name.
Memory Selection: The Word
became flesh and dwelt among
us, full of grace and truth; we
have beheld his glory, glory as
of the only Son from the
Father. ?John 1:14
HOW WE UNDERSTAND
THE SCRIPTURE
The Fourth Gospel begins with
a term fully Greek in its origin
? Logos, which is translated into
English as "Word." The transla
tion does not reveal all that
Logos meant in Greek culture. A
word once spoken had power to
create ideas on its own. The
word (Logos) was the creative
power and energy of the uni
verse.
We should notice in studying
this first chapter how quickly
the Gospel writer backed up his
use of Logos with words that
were rich in meaning in Hebrew
thought. Such words are light
and darkness, truth and life.
Read or recall passages from the
Psalms. How often all these
words appear! Perhaps for us,
too, they can deepen the mean
ing of Logos.
He Dwelt Among Us
This chapter deals with ab
stract ideas. The discourse be
gins with the Greek concept of
the creative, eternal Logos. This
concept is interpreted by He
brew ideas that are easier to
understand: light, darkness,
truth. We are told that God sent
a man to bear witness to this
Word, this light, this truth. The
witness was that this Word, this
truth, was coming into the
world. Indeed, it had come into
the world, and some people had
received it for their very own.
Others who should have recog
nized it did not, and some who
did recognize the light rejected
it. .
In the fourth paragraph John
returned to the concept of the
Logos. He made a direct asser
tion: "The Word (Logos) be
came flesh and dwelt among
us."
Here we need to recall what
the word flesh stood for In the
Hebrew-Greek mind. It stood
for the whole physical life of
man. This verse, then, makes
quite an assertion. The universal,
eternal, creative activity of God
came into the whole physical life
of mati and dwelt men.
(Continued on Pag* 3)