Trinity College School - Record Yearbook (Port Hope, Ontario Canada)

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TRINITY COLLEGE SCHOOL RECORD 7 The war of 1914-1918 gave a terrible shock to that belief, but the forming of the League of Nations and further amazing scientific developments made man feel that all the sacrifices had been worth while, for War had been abolished and the world was safe for democracy and freedom. With man all things are possible, again became the watchword, and great material prosperity in the world we knew, streng- thened that belief. Then came the titanic struggle of 1939-1945 when man rose again to offer himself a sacrifice for an ideal, justice and freedom. He achieved heights of bravery and devotion, and the world spent its life blood on engines of destruction. Every scientific skill was employed to discover more efiicient ways of killing and destroying. ' In 1945 we again rejoiced that the forces of evil had been conquered and liberty and justice and right ruled the day. A new era had surely dawned, the weaknesses of the League of Nations were corrected and a much stronger, much more effective world power was formed-the United Nations. All the nations would now Work together as a team, all for one and one for all. But somehow things have again not turned out as we expected and hoped they would. Let us face the facts: to-day there are three wars in progress and the great nations of the World are racing again to arm themselves to the teeth with the latest and most im- proved means of killing and destroying. One half of the world seems to be lining up against the other halfg millions in the East are living in squalor and near starvation while other millions in the West waste more in one day than the others have to eat in one month. That is nothing new, per- haps, but there is a difference now, for the unfortunate masses are being told how unfortunate they are, their feel- ings are being roused against those who live in comparative luxury. Never before have they seen pictures or heard stories of the wealth of the West and now they are told that wealth came because they were kept in subjection and down-trodden by the fortune seekers of the West.

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6 TRINITY COLLEGE SCHOOL RECORD carried an assurance that He was their leader still. Holy Breath they called it, or Holy Spirit. The likeness of Spirit to wind had been suggested by the Master. The wind makes tired men ready to set out anew. And in the realm of the Spirit moves the life-giving Breath. By the Spirit of God, men, even old men, are reborn! In conclusion, the Chaplain said, In St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians he said, 'Walk in the Spirit! What is that but to get out into God's clean atmosphere, turn one's face into the refreshing breeze to be enlivened by the life-giving influence of Him who said, 'Behold, I make all things new'! 1 ADDRESS BY THE HEADMASTER OCTOBER 5, 1952 The fruit, the vegetables and the grain which decorate the Sanctuary today are symbols of all we owe to natural forces for our life and well being. At this time of year, the autumn, we think especially of the harvest, and we give thanks that the fields, through a miracle of growth which we can only say is God-given, have once again provided food for us, in one form or another such festivals have been known for many thousands of years, probably ever since man appeared in any numbers on the earth. In this country few starve, but in other large parts of the world, drought and disaster quite often spell starvation and slow death to hundreds of thousands. h At the turn of this century man thought the golden age was at hand, he was becoming all powerful through the advent of science, the secrets of nature were being unlocked and man was controlling his destiny as never before. The world was bound to be a place of peace and prosperity, wars and calamities were a thing of the past, the Pax Britannica would keep nations in order and man himself was becoming a. God. That seemed to be the comfortable and complacent belief of the Victorian age and it carried over into the Hrst part of this century.

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8 TRINITY COLLEGE S-CHOOL RECORD The old struggle between the haves and have nots is -being whipped up to white heat, and no Marshal Plan, Colombo Plan, Unesco, or United Nations can cure the trouble overnight. In a very real way the sins of the fathers and grandfathers are being visited on the sons and grand- sons. What a piece of work is man, said Shakespeare, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculty, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a God -all doubtless true, for we have untold, undiscovered latent abilities, but if Shakespeare were living today and had witnessed the march of events through this century I am inclined to think he would be less enthusiastic about man. What a mass of folly is man, he might have said, with one hand he prepares the most luxurious dwelling and with the other he makes ready to blow it to pieces. He learns the secrets of the universe but peace and content are strangers to him. He knows the whole world but himself he does not know. But this is our Harvest Thanksgiving serviceg what have we to be thankful for? Food, clothing, shelter-yes indeed. A prosperous country, friends and a large amount of free- dom-no doubt about that. Our families, our health, our opportunities, the love and kindness which surrounds us are all important, all very precious. Do not let us, however, be self-satisfied or complacent, we live in dangerous times and such times demand courage and effort rather than complacency, a searching self-examina- tion rather than self-satisfaction. And that is what I feel we should give a sincere thanks- giving for, the fact that so many of our people are awakening from their sleep of selfishness, are realizing that a man's life and future consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth, are beginning to see beyond themselves to the long horizons of this world, and again beyond those horizons to the largely unknown and unseen yet deeply felt borders of the world of the spirit.