WE CAN HAVE A GLORIOUS FUTURE

From there he went up to Beersheba. That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.” Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.

—Genesis 26:23–25

 

One of the most tragic things that can happen to an individual or to a country is to lose faith in the future. When this occurs you can be absolutely certain that a sad process of deterioration and decay is in effect. On the contrary, no matter how many difficulties may be faced, either by an individual or by a nation, if there remains an unshakable faith in the future, one saving element is present that, despite everything, can guarantee a glorious future.

When I was a boy, which I assure you was not too long ago, nobody had the slightest doubt about the future of the United States or the world. Every day, glorious achievements, marvelous new inventions were announced; men were dreaming dreams and seeing visions; we were coming into the golden age and everybody was filled with the spirit of expectation regarding the future. Every school-aged child was educated on the proposition that great days were ahead. Nobody had a pessimistic outlook. It was a mood of optimism and growth. Then we had a war and a long depression, then another war. Then somebody discovered nuclear power. Now people fear a third world war. Of course, in view of all this it is not difficult to understand why a mood of depressive cynicism rests upon the people.

I find myself now and then longing for that glorious, effervescent, uplifting mood of yesterday. Apparently I am not the only one. I read not long ago in a southern newspaper a very interesting and, I think, wise article pointing out that there are so many historical novels today. Historical fiction is constantly on the bestseller list and is one of the most popular types of reading we can find today. This newspaper writer says that two facts account for this interest. First, the American public is utterly disgusted with the no-count kind of people found in the average novel. Second, we are aware of the sad state in which the world finds itself, and there is a general feeling on the part of the people that in order to have a glorious future we must go back and discover what those great old Americans of yesterday possessed that we have lost. Hence the popularity of the historical novel.

We, the sons and daughters of those people who believed in a glorious future and who created the same, want to discover what they had that we lack. The Scripture quote at the beginning of this section refers to a large passage of Scripture about Isaac, who was a man of genius. He discovered, as he came into a glorious country, that the wells that his father Abraham had dug, and out of which had poured pure fresh streams of living water, had been allowed to be filled up by the Philistines. Isaac, longing for the greatness that was in his father Abraham, redug the old wells of water that they had dug in the days of his father Abraham. When once again these pure streams ran free, then was discovered the ancient power of the old days. That is an allegory so simple that a wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein. We have had a host of Philistines today who have clogged up the wells. And we have allowed them to do it. They have come along with their attitude of super-sophistication. They have come along with their slow but steady hacking away at Christian morals. They are still at it. On the best-seller list today are books which make it very easy for anyone to think that there is such a lack of morality in the United States that we might just as well throw everything aside and become the kind of generation that was blotted out when Vesuvius threw its lava and ashes over what was apparently one of the worst communities of the ancient world. The walls of great living are filled up by the Philistines, and no wonder there is no flowing of the streams of water that alone can make us believe in the future. People have become indifferent to the great moral values and are cynical, soft and forgetful of Almighty God. They are fiddling while Rome burns, while civilization decays.

When you redig these ancient wells out of which the creative future bubbles, what do you find? Simply, that the people who created great futures in the past were strong, decent, self-sacrificing, idealistic people. The men and women who created these United States were great souls. They did not play both sides of the street. They formed their convictions on what they thought was right and they let the chips fall where they would. They did not have a lot of little politicians with their ears to the ground, figuring to balance this minority group against that minority group. I do not know whether this democracy can stand that kind of business or not.

I was at Mount Vernon recently and was greatly moved. A strong, courageous man once lived there. You can see his footprints everywhere; you can get his spirit. This great, tall, silent Virginia farmer, of a fine family, believed in something. He went out from that place to lead a ragged army of untrained men against the mightiest power then known to history. They were poor and hungry and without food, but they were dreamers of the future. One day while Washington was away, according to a letter that I saw at Mount Vernon, a British warship came up the river and trained its guns on Mount Vernon. A messenger came ashore under a white flag to tell the overseer that unless they, Mount Vernon, contributed food for the British vessels, the plantation house would be blown up. The overseer had been charged by Washington with the care of this magnificent property. He was in a great dilemma. He pondered seriously over the matter and, finally, fearful for the plantation property, he gave them food and whatever they asked. Then he wrote to Washington about it. He said, “General Washington, we gave them food.” Washington's reply showed his sterling character. He said, “I love every inch of Mount Vernon. It is my home, and the retreat to which I hope to return when this war is over. Now I am with my troops and we are fighting to build a future; I would rather you had allowed the enemy to lay waste my manor house and destroy my plantation than to give them any aid or comfort. I am ashamed of you, Sir!”

That is the kind of people who made the United States, and that is the only kind of people who can save it. People of strength and character, just plain, simple, unadulterated, old-fashioned Christian character and manhood.

Take the story of the Great Wall of China as another example. For fifteen hundred years it stood unconquered. Enemies came up against it, they hurled great armies against the wall, they brought up catapults of fire, they smashed at it with battering rams, but they could not break the wall. One day, by the gate, a guard was drunk, and a simple, harmless-looking shepherd came along and engaged him in conversation. Realizing his drunken and maudlin state, he corrupted and bribed him. The guard went away from the gate for a moment; it was thrown back and hordes of barbarians poured in. They could not overcome China by bringing force against the wall, but they gained entrance by penetrating a man who had grown weak.

Keep yourself alert, keep yourself strong, keep yourself decent, keep yourself Christian, for you are the soldier at the gate guarding the future of the United States. No wonder Isaac redug the wells of water that they had dug in the time of his father Abraham.

The second thing that we need to redig is a new emphasis upon the morality and Christlikeness of the home. The basic unit in America is still the home, and with it the institution of marriage and of children. What we need is for mothers and fathers once again to bow their heads before meals, as did their fathers and mothers, and ask the blessing of God upon the food, the home and each member of the family. We also need to revive some of those beautiful and gracious old-fashioned American customs of morality that made up a great people. Let children see their fathers and mothers reading out of the Great Old Book of God.

I have a friend who was formerly quite a sophisticate. He believed in making money, and he thought the opportunities in the free enterprise system were limitless. He asked me one time if I thought it was unchristian for him to strive hard to build a good business and a nice home. I said that I never could see any reason why a Christian should not improve his own condition, provided he does it decently and in harmony with the laws of God. I told him to build himself as good a house as he could. So he finally moved into a beautiful home. But the crowd around him was a fast crowd, and he saw what was happening. He wrote me a letter the other day and said that in his new house he found the most magnificent bar you ever saw. All the neighboring houses had bars. But when he took his children through the house and they came to this room they asked, “What is this, Dad?” I said, “That is a bar.”

They then asked, “What is that?” I replied, “Don't you know?” They said, “No.” Then he says, “I removed the bar and on the shelves where whiskey bottles used to stand, I have put the greatest books I could find.”

Now you say, how in the world can a man do that and be in society, because to be in society you have to follow the mode. Who said you have to follow the mode? Young people come to me again and again and say, “I have to follow the crowd.” I do not know much about social etiquette, but I think Miss Emily Post is an authority. Somebody wrote Miss Post a letter that was in the newspaper. Dear Miss Post, “We do not drink in our home and we wonder if we have another couple in to dinner if we must serve cocktails the same as everybody does. Also, what about serving drinks after dinner.” This is Miss Post's reply: “You do not have to serve liquor at any time.”

This deterioration of the American home is an enemy in the gate. This sentiment I just quoted from Miss Post is not popular. You know that. Do not get the idea that I think liquor is the only bad thing in this country. It is a symptom, it is a let-down. Let me ask you this. Are you as good a man as you were forty years ago? What are your children going to do, what are mine going to do? Before I go to my long-last sleep free from the cares of this world, I would like to say, with Daniel Webster, “When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time the sun in heaven, may I not see it shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union.” But rather let them gaze on a strong Union of strong-limbed, clean-minded, healthy, soulful people. Unless we have it, there is no future; it will be one with Nineveh and Tyre. Let us redig the wells that were dug by our forefathers in their time.