Editorial August 28, 1978 ISSUE

Smoothing out our progress

Nathan A. Talbot

As a youngster, I drove a tractor on my grandfather's farm. It didn't take long to learn that releasing the clutch had to coincide properly with applying the gas. Otherwise the tractor would go through a series of short leaps and halts as it tried to move forward. In a way, this is the sort of thing that too often happens in life. There seems to be a long series of these advances, halts—and even retreats. This is the nature of mortal existence. Mortality itself can never be smoothed out. Spirituality is where we find a smooth and even existence. Although human life by its very nature may have its challenges, still, some of the hops and spurts in moving forward can be avoided.

The key to an even and smooth movement forward on the tractor was exercising just the right balance in synchronizing the clutch and accelerator. In a similar way, our relinquishment of materiality and our application of spirituality have to have just the right balance. If they don't, our lives may tend to hop and jump and halt like the tractor.

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