Texas Christian University - Horned Frog Yearbook (Fort Worth, TX)

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.vu EDWARD McSI IANE WAITS President of the University

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The Message of the President To the Class of I930 . The Need of A Working Philosophy of Life ODAY, industry, politics, international relationships, even religion and social con- ditions combine to produce an uncertain and panicky world, but for every note of despair and for every siren of fear there must be a call to faith and courage. In this day when radical humanism seeks to make faith in God an obsolete aHairg when we are being told that a desire for immortality is only sellishness, that sin is a mere com- plex, that guilt is a neurosis and that salvation is only for neuroticsg when penologists affirm that crime is only a disease, and psychology assumes that we need a psychiatrist more than a saviorg when we are being told that science and education and culture can convert wrong into right and immorality into morality, and thus banish the moral mists and the spiritual perplexities of our day and generation, it is time for the college grad- uate to place a new emphasis upon the personality of God and upon faith in and friend- ship with Him as the Greatest spiritual adventure of our time. Here is the great need of our time: a spirit of adventure, a new faith in spiritual values, a discovery or the re-discovery of things that men may live by. Instead of the haunting illusions of life we need today a working philosophy of life. I affirm that we must choose between a shining Faith with its adventures or a malig- nant Fate chuckling in the darkness. We cannot dispose of the great landmarks of our religion and civilization flippantly. No great life can be lived without a great convic- tion, a great passion, and a great purpose, only these lead us to a philosophy of great living. No great life or civilization long survives the downfall of its gods. We must wor- ship something bigger and better than ourselves. It is not a question of what this philosophy will put into our pockets, but of what it will put into our characters. Life is not a formula or a set of rules, but the obedience to certain great fundamental principles. Christianity is a way, a pathway into the unseen. The Disciples of Jesus said, How can we know the way ? They asked for a map. Jesus informed them that there were no milestones among the stars. The man who takes a great principle into his heart commits himself to an uncertainty. He must be prepared to meet unexpected calls and new responsibilities. He must set sail with sealed orders upon an uncharted sea. That takes courage, involves risk: but nothing ventured, nothing won. A being who lives in thoughts that wander through eternity, who is haunted by feelings he cannot fathom, who is pos- sessed of cravings time cannot satisfy, must have a leadership that is infinitely wise and a kinship that is divine. The quest for a leader brings us inevitably to Jesus Christ, the incomparable and matchless flower of the race who with a spiritual originality un- surpassed gave us the highest revelation of the Father, and by the power of His resur- rection brought life and immortality to light. In this solemn hour when you are taking a tearful farewell of your loving and devoted Alma Mater remember that the thing she most covets for you is your discovery of a working philosophy of life. Her fondest hope is that while lingering in these halls you have evolved some point of view, some firm convictions, some attitudes of soul that will give assurance of the reality of spiritual values, of life, the worthfulness of a high- minded, generous, hopeful life, and ideals that are not illusions, in short, that when you pursue beauty, truth, and goodness, when you love and believe and sacrifice, when you set honor above self-interest, and spiritual fellowship above physical satisfaction, and go on to the end believing that good is still to come, you are not playing the fool, chasing bubbles or rainbows, but are setting your lives in pursuit of real and lasting values. This is the highest reward that can possibly come to you from your four years in these classic halls. I WM T1lll57If1I-7I