Salem State University - Clipper Yearbook

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Elie 1'P5ihP1Il,':i ., raaagv The story of the Quest of the Grail is so obviously symbolic that it requires no interpretation. lt simply represents the journey of .i disciplined life toward the ulti- mate objectives of Goodness and Truth. The same idea has been portrayed again and again in literature through such allegories as Canterbury Tales and The Odyssey, both of which have served as themes for The Clipper in former years. It is encouraging that our seniors select these themes, because their choice is indicative of sound thinking and healthy behavior at .1 time when morality is an outmoded product in so many centers of population. We are frequently told that this is the heyday of civilization. Perhaps that is an appropriate characterization of the twentieth century. Man has done remarkably well. Against the forces of nature, against the barriers of time and space, against barbarism and retrogression, he has made of the earth a splendid thing, a crowning monument to his industry. Despite the calamities of the past few years, despite the turmoil and turbulence through which we are now passing, man may look upon his achievements with pardonable satisfaction, and as he views the spoils of conquest, as he numbers the difficulties surmounted and the obstacles overcome, as he contemplates the accomplishments of hand and heart and brain which reach from one end of the earth to the other, he may say truthfully and triumphantly, I have done well. Yet in the very utterance of that boast, there are so many facts which rise up to confound him. After all, it is not so much what man has done that counts as what he has not done but might have done. We cannot attain perfection this side of eternity, but should we not be much closer to it after so many generations than we are today? The difficulty, as I see it, is that there are too many people who have neglected the vital imports of life, who have made them subservient to the lesser, the ephemeral things, too many people who have developed themselves along certain commendable lines, but who have failed, and failed miserably to stress the realities. One does not have to be of a particular religious belief to profess the truth that every man is on his way to eternity, that he is here on earth to make himself as fit as possible to deserve that state. Then, what does it matter though we conquer time and space, and transform wildernesses if in the end we must cover our faces with shame because of energies misdirected and talents misapplied. The things that count are the spiritual things, and toward their attainment all our efforts should first be directed. Afterwards, if you will, probe the stars, delve into the earth, hew the forests, span the waters, marshal the dreams of the imagination. There are too many people who are not made of that stuff, too many whose end in life is material greatness, natural prosperity, the acclaim of their fellow men. They strut and preen themselves before the footlights of the world, with never a thought of what is to happen when the show is over and the audience has gone. Religion to them is nothing more than an abstract of meaningless forms and ceremonials. They are educated to the belief that the temporal is the supreme verity. They see nothing beyond the horizon of death, or they blind themselves to that vision until it dwindles and fades. That is the philosophy of materialism to which so many subscribe. It is re- pugnant to all who, in Quest of the Grail, Live pure, speak true, right wrong, follow the King. 4. ivwn

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