Article February 9, 1957 Issue

INSPIRATION AND EXPRESSION

WILLIAM LAWRENZ MEZGER

Once there was a man who had a great and noble thought. Then he doubted, "I am not capable of carrying out this thought." Later he mused, "I am not capable of even telling this great thought to others." If we are ever tempted to believe that we cannot carry out the unfoldment that we have perceived mentally, let us read again about this man.

In Chapters 3 and 4 of the book of Exodus, we learn how Moses first received the God-given thought to lead his people to freedom; and we learn also that he became doubtful of his ability, frightened at the magnitude of his inspiration. Then the healing thought came to him that God was with him. When later he was the victim of other doubts, among them lack of confidence in his ability to speak, God said to him (Ex. 4:12), "Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say." Many times this promise was fulfilled for Moses, but never more so than in the mighty, vibrant words of the Ten Commandments.

There are few of us who have not said or thought at one time or another, "If only I could put my thoughts into words." Musicians often fail, they believe, to convey their full inspiration in composition or performance. Artists despair of putting on canvas what they see in the mind's eye. Businessmen and businesswomen find their hopes hindered. Families appear to lose their way.

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