The Evening Star (January 1, 1947)
Editorial: New Year, 1947
Charles Lamb was amply justified when he observed that: “No one ever regarded the first of January with indifference.” So long as time matters at all to men, the start of a new year will be an occasion of significance. It is an appraisal point for a twelve-month period closed. Likewise, it is a convenient opportunity for the making of plans, the formulating of resolutions actually to be kept.
A new beginning may seem difficult to many people. Yet the theory of changing deliberately and consciously is common enough in ordinary human experience to require little, if any, argument. Thousands have proved by the power of their own thinking the efficacy of personal consecration. Most of the great social achievements of the past have been effected by the sincere, enthusiastic, whole-souled cooperation of ordinary human beings who chose to labor together. One reason why there is hope in the world today is that during 1946 there was a discernible decline in passion and a correlative growth in patience among numerous groups.
It is no empty platitude that people have been learning that they need each other. A mutual appreciation has been developing among nations, between classes and races and religious organizations. The fact that issues have been dramatized is something to rejoice about. Only those tensions which are hidden from public view deserve to be dreaded. The problems that multitudes are conscious of will be solved. It is part of the essential doctrine of progressive civilization that plain citizens are competent to manage their own affairs.
But it is good to emphasize the duty and the privilege of each Individual to contribute to the solutions desired. At New Year especially the personal factor in the life of the inclusive world community should be stressed. The divine in junction: “To do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God” was not spoken to the masses so much as to men in their distinct integrity. Each separate spirit must be enlisted if, as the minister of the Washington Hebrew Congregation prayed on the eve of Christmas, we are to be “neighbors who will live as brothers.”
During 1947 humanity will have another chance to put that doctrine into practice. It has paid a very heavy price for the privilege of further endeavor. Therefore, it enters upon the New Year solemnly. The compulsion of a tremendous challenge demands sober attention. Not casually is the split atom to be dealt with, not lightly are poverty and crime and sorrow to be considered. The future wants reverence. Saint Paul’s beautiful message to the Philippians is worth quoting: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do.”