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Are You That Lump Of Clay?
By SALLY SMITH
There is an old Persian fable
which I read recently about the
fragrance of a rose. As the
story goes, a weary traveler in
a hot, burning desert sought a
place to rest. Gradually he
noticed a secret, sweet frag^ran-
ce, and, searching for the
source of that beautiful aroma,
he touched a small piece of clay.
To his surprise he found the
answer. “You are just a lump of
clay,” he marvelled, and asked,
“Where did you get that rare
perfume? It has the fragrance
of a rose.”
The clay answered and to his
surprise said, “You are right. I
am only a piece of common clay.
There is nothing lovely about
me. But sir, I have been
dwelling with a rose.”
I realized what the traveler
must have known: that a small
lump of normal, every-day clay
had absorbed enough of the
lovely sweetness of its associ
ate, the rose, to change it into a
tiny bit of beauty in its own
little world. We are aU like
that; we, as humans, tend to
absorb or be penetrated and
influenced by our environmen
tal conditions. If a child is
reared in a loving, gentle
atmosphere of trust and mutual
understanding, his world will
be one of joy and happiness in
the knowledge of unconditional
love. If, however, a child gppows
up in an unloving, dishonest,
chaotic world of hatred and
fear, his life will be filled with
sadness, uncertainty and torn
emotions.
The people you associate
with mold your world and the
laws you live by limit that
world. Self-imposed discipline
is necessary for the weU-being
of body and souL As a society
we are required to follow
certain established rules, giv
ing to each other at least the
mutual respect of human
rights. As Americans we
supposedly have the stated
rights of life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness. But
obviously, they are only writ
ten “rights.” Idealists in a
dream world say we have
these, and perhaps we have
more freedom as citizens than
do people of other countries,
but historically freedom and
rights have always been won,
not given. It must be a fight
well-fought, based on sound
grounds.
I have heard a lot of
grumbling lately which is
generally directed toward our
school—the faculty, staff or
administration. Everyone com
plains and no one acts. If you
don’t like what’s going on then
it is past time to do something
about it! “Do you know where
you’re going to? Do you like the
things that life is showing you?
What are you hoping for? Do
you know?”
The majority of students
here at NCWC are legally
adults. By law we are responsi
ble for our actions. We have
been designated a Christian
institution and Christians have
been called into a world of
mistrust, misunderstanding
and disillusionment to spread a
message of love and peace and
certainty to all those desperate
ly in need of such enrichment in
life. As the traveler found with
the little lump of clay, our
surroundings tend to “grown on
us.” We all need some rules and
regulations if order and under
standing are to be maintained,
but if these were presented as
an aid to life, if rules were made
out of love and concern for our
fellow man rather than printed
in order to have the “proper”
image for the outside world,
they could be accepted and
supported rather than rejected
and ignored. Christianity hing
es on trust, honest, acceptance,
love and support. Maybe I have
not been at the right place at
the right time, but on this
campus I have seen very little
evidence of those characterist
ics of the faithful.
In previous years at this
institution, I have enjoyed the
freedoms we were granted and
appreciated the trust placed in
aU students. We all know that
if a person of any age wants to
do anything badly enough, he
will do it, regardless of whether
it lies within the rules and laws
or not. The campus had
reasonably well kept up with
the world it lived in and stiU
supported its Christian claims.
It gave students the right to
make decision for themselves.
“College is a place to keep
warm between high school and
marriage.” Although this is
often laughed at, it’s very true
for many people. When a
student decides to go to college
he takes on a new reponsibility
in the world. He has four more
years to adjust to adulthood
and to accept full responsiblity
for himself and those whose
lives are touched by his. In
these four years, if he does not
have some degree of freedom,
some choice in life, then when
he is finally out of school and
“on his own”, he will be totally
lost, confused, and hurt. Col
lege, as well as being a time for
education, is a growing, chang
ing and expanding process. For
many it is painful and mistakes
must be made and admitted if
are to learn. God is not
bound by or married to
methods and rules but His
eternal principles. We as
Christians strive to be a part of
His world, living by His eternal
principles. I realize that not
everyone is a Christian, but all
people have some principles.
Perhaps some peoples’ princi
ples are different from those
generally thought of as socially
acceptable, but the judgement
is not ours to make as long as
people are not hurt. Acceptance
is important. People fear
change and “different” things
are hard to accept. I propose
that idea of taking what
principles exist and using them
as building blocks to produce
Christian principles and active
lives on this campus. Instead of
saying, “No, this is wrong,”
emphasize what good exists
and promote it. The rose
influenced the clay and left its
subtle sweetness and gentle
glory. The Christian can do the
same thing. If you are a weary
traveler, tired of the desert,
perhaps you should look for a
lump of clay whose life has been
enriched by a rose. Maybe that
is the bit of clay we need to lead
us and voice our opinions. Not
through rose-colored glasses,
but in serious, realistic thou
ghts, we need to change a lot of
things. Wesleyan needs us, we
need Wesleyan. So let’s get out
of our pouting houses and do
something.
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Again
Many moons have passed
again since you last saw our
planet of smouldering expres
sion cross your path. For some
it may have been a collision, for
others our journalistic birth
may have been nothing more
than an obscure eclipse that
happened at such an ungodly
hour that you just didn’t feel
like getting out of bed. To make
myself understood I did not
mean bed in its sexual
connotation, after all we cannot
spread about loose language,
think of our image.
Yes our image, a point for
further departure in my estima
ted discourse. Too many folks,
friends and foes alike, have
been toying with simple issues
pertaining to college life, but in
the execution of their rhettoric
vital ideals and considerations
have been ignored. Sure it is
important to flush a resolve
from the bowels of social
obstinancy, but come now
friends; the visibility rights of
alcohol, open dorms. Where do
our priorities lie?
Think a bit, what makes life
enjoyable? Friends, and where
do friends come from: people.
Yeh, Yeh. But how many people
go to classes and display
delightful riffs of personality
then dissolve into the surround
ing towns, burrows, farms,
fields and trees? That’s right
the day students even a vast
amount of residents have found
no common grounds of enjoy
ment at Wesleyan so they
resort to Private Lives. I’m not
chastizing private livers but
when facing the heart of the
matter, it is down to earth
human socializing that restores
the vitality and life to deadened
social organs such as ours.
But to see industrious,
happy-minded students bebop-
ping about in social ecstacy is
an ideal one could label fantasy.
Or is it a matter of eliminating
ideals and dreams and just
plain getting into one’s role
within our society. Before we
can hump any social changes
there must be a few personal
reforms and revelations. What
can you do to make things
better for yourself and the rest
of us who find ourselves booked
for passage on the same boat?
Fine for you Mr. newspaper
man who dashes off countless
episodes of words and ideas to
be read and considered by all,
but what do you offer as a
solution? If I had a crowd-pleas-
ing solution to delight the
minds of many, I would demand
that the president’s job be
given to me. Alas I don’t need
the job, he does and there is no
clearcut solution to be had.
Only there are a few
prescribed motions with which
we could get the ball rolling.
Today is election day for the
offices of Student Government.
Use your feetsies to carry your
bod to the S. G. A. office where
your pencil hand will put a nice
X on the right person’s name.
The right person will then use
his newly elected office to add
some zip or at least human
concern to the dying dregs of
student activity.
Secondly you do have the
right to shleckle on down to the
appropriate election center and
pretend you are helping to
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