Hillsdale is not a religious college, but in its Articles of Association it
states: “We are grateful to God for the inestimable blessings resulting from
the prevalence of civil and religious liberty and intelligent piety in our nation.
We are dedicated to the diffusion of sound learning that is essential to the
perpetuity of these blessings.”
I believe Hillsdale to be a fine college, and am glad such institutions exist,
but it is no substitute for our New Church College. Please contribute to the
effort to build up the endowment for Bryn Athyn College and all our schools.
Large donations are obviously needed, but every dollar helps, and the more
widespread the support our schools receive, the more inspired others will be
to contribute.
(WEO)
curse of cursing
During the Boynton Beach Retreat in February the Rev. Dan Heinrichs
reminded me of a favorite editorial of his – Neither by Heaven – written by
my father, the Rev. Cairns Henderson, for the April 1954 New Church Life. (It
is also included in the collection put together by Bishop Willard Pendleton in
1978, Selected Editorials.)
It lamented the way that profanity – especially taking the Lord’s name
in vain – had become so pervasive in the prevailing culture. And as with so
many of the editorials in this book it is as timeless and relevant as when it was
written 63 years ago – even more so because the curse has only become more
acute. Here is the editorial:
• • •
Because they are laws for angels and men the Ten Commandments reach
from the highest heaven to the ultimates of life on earth. Thus the precept,
“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain,” does forbid
profanity, swearing in general, and all use of obscene language. And there is,
perhaps, no other ultimate prohibition in the Decalogue that is so generally
disregarded. From fo’c’sle to fraternity house, from factory to farmyard, the
Lord’s sacred names are taken in vain daily; and men who would not know
how to utter them in worship use them freely to scoff and jeer, and to vent their
impatience and angry passions.
Swearing is an insidious habit which, the Writing tell us, may have an
embarrassing