I read something the other day that I thought
was one of the best things that I have read for
a long, long time. The writer was telling of
an incident that happened years ago. And as I
read it, I thought how well it might have happened
in Concordia, Missouri, my own little hometown.
Through the little town every day at exactly
the same time roared the great Golden State Limited
train at a terrific rate of speed. Every day
at exactly the same time, every afternoon, this
great Golden State Limited just roared through
this little town. And every day. At exactly the
same time, the same moment. And old farmer used
to go down the station to watch the train go
through the little town. Of course, this was
the chief item of excitement in that community.
And he'd lean against the corner of the building,
his dog beside him. And the little old dog needed
no telegraph instrument to tell him when the
train was approaching. The dog knew. And he'd
go to the end of the platform and stand poised,
his ears cocked, every muscle of his body tense.
A beautiful picture of aliveness. And then, as
the engine drew abreast of him, he'd turn and
he'd race beside it just as hard as he could
go. Can't you just see a little old puppy doggy?
That little... puppy, racing with every ounce
of strength in his little body, racing abreast
of that great locomotive. He'd race beside it,
ears back, barking defiantly until it disappeared
in a cloud of dust around the curve. One day...
The old station agent said, say, you know something?
That's a crazy dog you've got there. Does he
think he can catch the Golden State Limited?
Do you think he actually thinks he can catch
the Golden State Limited? That ain't the craziest
thing about him, drawled the old farmer. The
craziest thing about him is what? What would
he do with it if he did catch it? You want to
know something? We are all about as foolish as
that dog. We have caught it. We've caught everything.
This is a very curious generation. We have practically
everything. We've got radios. We've got television.
We've got air conditioning. We've got pensions.
We've got Social Security. We've got Blue Cross.
We've got Blue Shield. All of our food is cooked
for us. All we have to do is to chew it and swallow
it. And as sure as you're alive today, soon somebody
will figure out how to do that for us. We've
got everything. I mean literally everything.
You want to know something? Last week, a businessman
showed me the model of the perfect office today.
It was right here in Pittsburgh. It was all run
by pressing a button. He sat at the desk. I watched
him. As he pressed one button, never moved. All
he had to move was just that one little finger
of his right hand. He pressed the button. The
doors opened. He pressed another button. The
draperies moved. He pressed another button. The
lights dimmed, exactly as he wished them to be
dimmed. The whole conversation of anyone in the
office would be recorded just by pressing a button.
I am telling you something. You... Never saw
anything like it in your life. About 20 buttons
pushed or removed or put back 20 different things.
And then he got up and said, now I'm going to
show you something that's very marvelous about
this perfect office. And he took me to a room
next to the office. It was a recreation room.
Bicycles, reducing machines. Massage tables.
Gadgets galore to take off the fat that you put
on by doing nothing when you should have been
doing something. Oh, I don't understand. It's
a crazy world. It's a crazy people. We have everything.
And yet, do you want to know something? In the
final analysis, we have nothing. I can tell you
one thing. We've never had it so good. We've
caught it all right. We have everything. Yet,
we have more heart attacks, more high blood pressure,
more nervous breakdowns. There are more suicides
per hundred of population than ever before in
the history of the world. Our science is superb.
We have it. We've caught it. And yet, the very
thing we have caught is the very thing that one
day will destroy us. God will not have to destroy
man. God will not destroy man. God will not destroy
this generation. Man will destroy himself. We
have gotten so smart. That one of these days
we're going to wake up to find out that we have
outsmarted ourselves. Sure. We're scared stiff.
We have power. We have the atomic power. We've
caught it. We're not like the little puppy dog
still running along beside the great locomotive.
No, ma 'am. We have conquered the locomotive.
We have it. But now since we have it, what are
we going to do with it? We're scared stiff that
this marvelous power will destroy us. We know
everything, this intelligent generation, except
one thing, and that is how to live. We have everything
but one thing, the most important thing. That's
peace of mind. and peace in the human heart.
Pause with me just a few minutes. Let's consider
something. Man must have a faith in and a loyalty
to something beyond himself. A something that
gives ultimate meaning, coherence, and a goal
to life. Without it, man is lost. Without it,
man has nothing. Without it, he may have everything
and yet have nothing. Life gives no real meaning
unless he has God. Believe me, in order to be
well, in order to be the kind of person you ought
to be, you must believe in something beyond yourself
and be loyal to it. Why? Answer is that you were
made that way. Man was made like that. Structurally
made that way. That way is stamped on your very
being. Life needs something beyond itself. Something
outside oneself to fasten its love and loyalty
to. Or it will break down. We, of course, believe
that that someone, that something is God. In
him, all things cohere. Everything less than
God will let you down. We must get God back.
For when God goes, then the basis of our moral
universe is gone. Today we as a people, today
we as a nation, everything, you name it, we have
it. We have everything but God. We have our minds
on everything. We're working toward everything
but God. No nation is stronger than her spiritual
forces. No individual is stronger than his faith
in God. And when God goes, then the basis of
our moral universe is gone. That's the reason
I've said over and over again, the future of
the world is in the hands of believers. For the
non -believers cannot act. They're suffering
from the paralysis of analysis. They can only
deny. We need to get to know Him as a person.
We need to put our faith in a person. The person
of Jesus Christ, God's son. A person. Knowing
that he is there loving us. Protecting us. Asking
him for guidance. Asking him for wisdom. When
the night is dark, you know he's there. And you
can talk with him. He is the only one who'll
give peace. He's the only one who is the very
prince of peace. For the individual and for the
world. We need to know him. in the same way that
David knew him, when he said, The Lord is my
shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie
down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside
the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth
me in the paths of righteousness for his name's
sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for
thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they
comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me
in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest
my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Surely
goodness and mercy. shall follow me all the days
of my life and I will dwell in the house of the
Lord forever. Do you really want to know the
meaning of life? Do you really want to know how
to live? Do you want peace of mind? Deep, settled
peace on the inside. There's only one who can
give it to you. That one is Jesus Christ, the
very son of the living God. Make your power and
person real for Jesus' sake. Amen.