Carthage College - Driftwood / Crimson Rambler Yearbook (Kenosha, WI)

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sermon Given in the May 22, 1969 Chapel Service by Pastor Dudley Riggle. 23 The hours spent waiting to see a doctor are often very long hoursaespecially it youlre a child. Perhaps thatls why. as a childt I had time to memorize a little poem which was engraved on a plaque that hung on the wall of Our family doctorls waiting room. I can see it now. It read: t There's so much good in the worst of us. And so much bad in the best of us. That is hardly behooves any of us To talk about the rest of us. That may not be the worldls greatest poetry. but itls cer- tainly a great truth about members of the family of man. Therels so much good in the worst of ust And so much had in the best ofus. Thatls true about people. It is also true about ideasa about theories-about statements. That is--it strikes me that statements that seem pooraor wrongaor bada often say something quite right-something quite correct agemething quite good. And statements that seem good and right and correct often also say something quite wrong, something quite incorrect. quite bad. To put it another way: isnlt it strange that some things are at the same moment both very right and very wronga both very good and very badaboth very true and very false. Such is the case with a statement which comes at the very end of a well-known children's storyu-the Japa- nese parable of Hashmu, the Stonecutter. Maybe as a yeung child you heard that story. If you havenlt grown too sophisticated. listen to it again. And especially listen for that strange concluding sentence which seems to have one foot 0n the side of truth and the other on the side of false- hood. Hashmu was a very poor stone cutter. All day long he hacked and hacked at the stone. Some- times he grew very tired of his work and he would say to himself, Why must I go on cutting and cutting and cutting at the stone? Why eanlt I be something else--something greater. One day. while he was working away at the stone, he heard footsteps coming. He looked up immediately. and there stood before him the king on a great horse, with his soldiers to the right and to the left. They looked at some ofhis work and then passed on. But Hashmu thought: HOW hne to be a king! If only I could be a king on a great horse, with my soldiers to the left and to the right. Then he began to chant: uThe King, the king, The king I would be! A voice said. uHashmu, be the king!

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in what an individual Ieams for himself by studying. mArthur Mizener

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Then Hashmu became the king, and sat on a great horses with soldiers to the right and to the left, And Hashmu said, tll am the king, and no one in the world is stronger than I. But soon Hashmu felt the hot sun on his head and on his back. The soldiers grew tired. and the horses could not run. Then Hashmu be- came angry cried, ltls there something in' the world stronger than a king? And he began to chant: The sun, the sun. The sun I would be? The voice said, Hashrnu be the sun. Thus Hashmu became the great sun in the sky, and shone down on the fields. But soon there came little clouds between Hashmu and the earth, so that he could no longer shine down Then he said, Is there something in the world stronger than the sun? And he began to chant: The cloud, the cloud, The cloud I would be! A voice said, Hashmu, be the cloud! So Hashmu became the cloud and sent rain upon the earth, and the rain became a brook. and the brook became a river, and the river carried away hills and trees and homes. Only one great rock the river could not carry away. Then Hashmu said. Is there something in the world stronger than the cloud? And he began to chant: The rock. the rock The rock I would be! The voice said. Hashmu. be the rock! Thus Hashmu became the great rock. Then he saw coming to meet him a man. The man had in his hand a hammer, and he began to hack at the rock. The chips Hew this way and that. Hashmu cried. Is there something stronger than the rock? And he chanted: ttThe man. the man. The man I would be! The voice said, ttHashmu. be yourself! Be yourself! That statement is at once both good advice and bad. ltls at once naive and profound. l'Be yourself! If that statement meanst ltNever try to ehangelletlDonlt worry about your shortcomingsl'lellNever try to im- prevell'wttDo what you feel like doingliaif it means thaL then it deserves the Pulitzer prize for stupidity. And if thatls what the popular song, ttl Gotta Be Me,n meansa then, forget it! It's lousy advice. 29 But if be yourselfv and if the song, I Gotta Be Me means, llBe a human being e Be a person'lethen its very right and very good advice. And, of course. that's the meaning of that phrase in the story Notice that Hashmu always wanted to be something other than a human being. Even his desire to be the king was a desire to be some- thing more than a human. For in his oriental culture the king was thought to be something more than a man ehe was thought to be divine. Note. tool that Hashmu was never really satisfted with being something other than human. 80 the word came to himetlHashmu. be yourself. ltBe yourselFl- be a human being. Thatls not merely good advieeethatls precisely what the Judaeo-Christian tradition says to us. Its good theology. Itis what God is saying to us! Be human! Stay Human!