W. Arthur Kale - "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Maturity" (June 22, 1975)

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	(gentle instrumental music)	0:08
	♪ Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation ♪	0:11
	♪ O my soul, praise him for he is your health and salvation ♪	0:20
	♪ Come, all who hear ♪	0:29
	♪ Now to his temple draw near ♪	0:33
	♪ Join me in glad adoration ♪	0:38
-	The peace of the Lord be with you.	0:55
	Let us pray.	0:58
	We have gathered together here, oh Lord	1:02
	from many different churches, races and walks of life	1:04
	to worship you.	1:11
	We would in these moments seek to worship you in spirit	1:14
	and in truth.	1:18
	Speak your word Lord where we would hear and understand,	1:21
	we would hear your truth and proclaim and act out your love.	1:27
	Fill us Lord with wonder, love and thanks	1:33
	that we may truly sing and live lives of joy	1:40
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.	1:46
	(lively instrumental music)	1:53
	In the life of the church.	4:28
	This is the fifth Sunday after Pentecost.	4:32
	As we celebrate and worship in this season	4:38
	of the flaming, life giving, life renewing presence	4:41
	of God's spirit.	4:45
	We come in these moments to God in humility	4:48
	and in honest recognition of our need for the forgiveness	4:53
	and the grace of God.	4:59
	Would you join with me as we make this confession	5:02
	of our sins?	5:07
	Let us pray.	5:09
	Oh, Holy God, hear our prayers.	5:12
	We confess that we have been inattentive to your word	5:16
	and your voice, that we have failed to think and pray	5:19
	and act for the mission and unity of your church	5:24
	and that we often try to imprison you in words	5:28
	and institutions.	5:32
	Forgive us for thinking we have the whole truth,	5:34
	for our lack of feeling and intercession	5:39
	for the needs of our families, the oppressed,	5:42
	the hungry, the sick and those without hope,	5:46
	for our uncritical attitude to our own membership	5:50
	in a society of affluence, for our cynicism which refuses	5:54
	to recognize the hope which is ours	5:59
	and to acknowledge your presence among us.	6:03
	Oh Lord, forgive what we have been,	6:07
	sanctify what we are and order what we shall be	6:10
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.	6:15
	Far beyond dream is the love of the Lord.	6:50
	No law outshines the law of love.	6:55
	More than sacrifice and gifts is the love of neighbor	7:00
	and of God.	7:05
	How high and wide, how long and deep the love	7:07
	of our risen Lord.	7:13
	My friends in Christ receive now and share	7:17
	with others this love, Amen.	7:23
	(gentle instrumental music)	7:32
-	The scripture lesson today, the old Testament,	10:16
	Ecclesiastes 9, 11 through 17.	10:19
	"Again, I saw that under the sun the race is not	10:24
	"to the swift, nor the battle to the strong	10:27
	"nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent	10:30
	"nor favor to the men of skill but time	10:34
	"and chance happened to them.	10:37
	"For man does not know his time.	10:39
	"Like fish, which are taken in an evil net	10:42
	"and like birds, which are caught in a snare	10:45
	"so the sons of men are snared at an evil time when	10:47
	"it suddenly falls upon them.	10:50
	"I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun,	10:53
	"and it seemed great to me.	10:57
	"There was a little city with few men in it	10:59
	"and a great king came against it	11:02
	"and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it	11:04
	"but there was found in it, a poor wise man	11:08
	"and he by his wisdom delivered the city,	11:11
	"yet no one remembered that poor man	11:14
	"but I say that wisdom is better than might,	11:17
	"though the poor man's wisdom is despised	11:20
	"and his words are not heeded.	11:22
	"The words of the wise are heard	11:25
	"in quiet are better than the shouting	11:26
	"of a ruler among fools.	11:29
	"Wisdom is better than weapons of war	11:32
	"but one sinner destroys much good."	11:34
	(lively instrumental music)	11:39
	♪ Amen ♪	12:12
	♪ Amen ♪	12:14
-	Will you join with me as we affirm our faith.	12:21
	We are not alone.	12:26
	We live in God's world.	12:29
	We believe in God who has created and is creating,	12:31
	who has come into truly human Jesus to reconcile	12:36
	and make new, who works in us and others through the spirit.	12:41
	We trust God who calls us to be the church to celebrate life	12:47
	and its boldness to love and serve others,	12:53
	to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus crucified	12:57
	and risen, our judge and our hope in life, in death,	13:03
	in life beyond death, God is with us.	13:09
	We are not alone.	13:13
	Thanks be to God.	13:15
	The Lord be with you.	13:20
-	With your spirit.	13:22
-	Let us pray.
	Oh God, nameless spirit of the universe,	13:33
	we seek to name you in some	13:39
	of those experiences which touch us deeply.	13:42
	Sometimes we're especially aware of our dependence upon you	13:49
	and sense ourselves as your children and we say our father,	13:54
	and we're beginning to learn to say our mother, God,	13:59
	sometimes we're tuned to your presence in a special way	14:05
	of acceptance and graceful love	14:09
	and in those moments we call you friend.	14:11
	Other times we're lifted by the marvelous thrust	14:16
	of creation's majesty and wonder and we say creator	14:19
	and then some moments are made vibrantly alive	14:27
	and we're hushed by an overwhelming awareness of depth	14:31
	and we simply utter thou.	14:37
	Named by our experiences and by our traditions we confess	14:43
	that you are beyond us and still we seek and we yearn	14:47
	and still we are open to your holy presence among us	14:55
	and within us.	14:59
	So trusting in you we offer these and other prayers.	15:01
	We lift up in intercession persons whom we've encountered	15:07
	in close ways this week.	15:10
	For the sharing of joy and love, we're thankful.	15:14
	For the frictions and difficult communications we ask	15:19
	for patience.	15:23
	For those experiences of hurt, we ask for healing care.	15:26
	We lift up in appreciation the richness	15:36
	of the blessings, which we cherish,	15:39
	our children and families, our times of fun and excitement	15:43
	with books and games, with music and sports,	15:48
	paintings and movies, our friendships bound together in deep	15:52
	and abiding affection and yes we lift up	16:00
	in concern the injustices	16:06
	and social evils which confront our nation and our world.	16:08
	Teach us how to join hands with neighbors and with strangers	16:14
	that together we may build the caring city,	16:21
	the just society and the peaceful world.	16:25
	So touch each of us Lord that we may live and grow	16:33
	in understanding, in acceptance, in compassion	16:40
	and in commitment	16:46
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord who taught each of us	16:49
	and all of us together to pray,	16:54
	our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,	16:57
	thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth	17:04
	as it is in heaven.	17:08
	Give us this day our daily bread	17:10
	and forgive us our trespasses	17:14
	as we forgive those who trespass against us	17:16
	and lead us not into temptation	17:20
	but deliver us from evil	17:23
	for thine is the kingdom, the power	17:26
	and the glory forever, Amen.	17:29
	In the life of this university.	17:37
	This is alumni Sunday and alumni week.	17:43
	We welcome alumnus and alumni.	17:48
	Any member of your family who may be with you	17:56
	and any friends who may be sharing in these days	17:59
	and these experiences with you.	18:02
	Indeed in the name of Christ, we welcome all of you	18:06
	to this service of worship and to those	18:11
	of you who are alumni I trust that it has been a good	18:14
	and profitable and enjoyable and enriching time	18:17
	that you have had as you have come home to Alma mater.	18:22
	We welcome back publicly this morning someone who needs not	18:28
	to be welcomed back to this university	18:34
	nor to the pulpit of Duke Chapel, Dr. W. Arthur Kale,	18:36
	retired professor of Christian education	18:42
	in the divinity school here, where he taught for a number	18:45
	of years, committed churchman, acumenist, teacher, educator,	18:47
	preacher, one who has led the church both locally	18:56
	and in the community, in the state and beyond.	19:02
	His influence through the classes	19:08
	and through the friendships that he has developed	19:11
	over the years lingers on and is carried out	19:13
	through ministry through the lives of countless numbers	19:17
	of men and women now serving in the name of Christ	19:20
	around the world and so we welcome to preach to all	19:24
	of us today, the good news, Dr. Kale,	19:29
	a friend of many of you and a warm	19:34
	and very supportive friend to me	19:36
	and if you'll notice in addition	19:40
	to the liturgical stole which he wears today,	19:42
	just to the left of that there's a little name tag,	19:46
	which says 50th anniversary, class of 1925.	19:48
	So there are many reasons to welcome him	19:56
	and Arthur, we hear you gladly.	19:59
-	In the name of the father and of the son	20:12
	and of the holy spirit, Amen.	20:17
	If I could do it, I would reduce the number	20:24
	of cynics who have come to worship in this chapel today.	20:31
	If I thought it could be done, I demand of our Congress,	20:39
	the declaration of a moratorium on cynicism	20:48
	in the presence of a loss of faith in our basic institutions	20:57
	the family, the courts, the schools, the government,	21:04
	the church, wide spread expressions of negativism,	21:12
	of cynicism if you will are spreading across this continent	21:20
	and indeed the world like a virus.	21:28
	If you have come here admitting that you belong hopelessly	21:36
	and permanently among the cynics and are pessimistic	21:44
	in an extreme degree regarding the present world situation,	21:51
	I can't help you much today but I do recommend that you turn	21:57
	to the book of Ecclesiastes in the old Testament	22:04
	and ponder again the implications of the familiar words,	22:08
	"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."	22:16
	You may be in agreement with the specific comments read	22:24
	from chapter nine earlier in this service	22:30
	that the race is not to the swift,	22:36
	the battle is not to the strong, bread is not given	22:39
	to the wise nor riches to the intelligent	22:45
	nor favor to men of skill but time	22:48
	and chance can happen to all.	22:51
	You may be in agreement with the comment	22:55
	that like fish which are taken in an evil net	22:58
	and like birds which are caught in a snare,	23:02
	so are the sons of men snared at an evil time	23:05
	but if you are on the other hand	23:17
	among those who have an open mind to another kind	23:22
	of response to present conditions,	23:26
	I wish to recommend another scriptural text.	23:29
	It is from the book of Psalms.	23:36
	As most of you know the book of Psalms is a hymn book	23:40
	and the text I'm about to quote should be sung not spoken.	23:44
	It is the familiar verse in Psalms 90 verse 12,	23:51
	"Lord, teach us to number our days	23:55
	"that we may get a heart of wisdom."	24:01
	This prayer in part is already being answered	24:06
	in American minds.	24:12
	In preparation for our bicentennial year,	24:15
	Americans are evaluating our days as a nation	24:21
	and Duke alumni this very weekend are engaged in counting	24:27
	or evaluating the record of the past 50 years.	24:32
	One truth for alumni of this institution and perhaps	24:39
	for Americans across the land has already become true.	24:44
	A nation does not live by the calendar alone	24:50
	and the figure 200 has little significance in an of itself.	24:57
	The quality of a university is not to be measured	25:04
	by the number of years since its beginning.	25:09
	Maturity is not the multiplicity and variety of experience,	25:12
	it is the courage to evaluate experience.	25:21
	Maturity requires a regular evaluation of our past.	25:31
	On television in these days, we listen to capsulated reports	25:39
	of events 200 years ago,	25:46
	reviewing the struggle and sacrifice of our founding fathers	25:51
	or other colonial leaders.	25:56
	Usually such accounts end with the statement,	26:00
	this is the way it was.	26:04
	This kind of celebration of our beginnings,	26:08
	I suggest is not quite enough.	26:12
	I have questions to ask about our beginnings,	26:18
	which are not answered by anecdotes	26:23
	and as one listens to these,	26:28
	his interest grows a little thin although his gratitude	26:33
	for the effort made remains genuine.	26:39
	And one does not quite find edification	26:45
	as he listens to the song by which Archie	26:51
	and Edith Bunker introduced their weekly program,	26:56
	"All in the Family."	27:02
	Those were the days they sing	27:04
	and about those days and present days	27:09
	much more might be said and it is that much more	27:14
	that concerns my heart this morning.	27:20
	As a member of the class celebrating its 50th anniversary,	27:26
	I confess that the cynic may have a point.	27:35
	We were limited in our wisdom when we finished	27:44
	in the year 1925.	27:50
	However proud we were to be members of the first class	27:55
	to be graduated from Duke University, we were a naive group.	28:01
	We knew nothing of cybernetics or of sensitivity training	28:10
	or of demography, or even of women's liberation.	28:20
	We talked freely about loose women,	28:29
	we had nothing to say about liberated women.	28:34
	We pointed to the man in the moon but thoughts about man	28:39
	on the moon belonged only to the science fiction writers,	28:44
	yet despite the limitations of knowledge	28:52
	and our naivety, that generation and generations before	28:57
	and since were seekers after wisdom, who had in part	29:03
	at least learned to master the art	29:10
	of evaluating step by step experience that we had	29:14
	and such as it was and so the years have passed	29:20
	and the counting continues.	29:28
	Experience has become enriched.	29:32
	Our education in the ways	29:35
	of citizenship continues awkwardly at times with many delays	29:37
	and a variety of detours but it has continued	29:44
	and we are still mindful	29:52
	that today's world situation requires us to pursue maturity	29:53
	with sustained effort and ever enlarging imagination.	30:01
	To be faithful to our beginnings we must count	30:09
	or evaluate the record of our past and seek	30:16
	and heed such lessons as may be offered	30:23
	for our consideration.	30:30
	For a long while I have been grateful for the statue	30:36
	of Thomas Jefferson which stands at the main entrance	30:41
	of Duke Chapel.	30:46
	His position alongside Robert E. Lee and Sidney Lanier	30:50
	and opposite the likenesses of John Wycliffe,	30:56
	translator of the Bible, Martin Luther, great reformer	30:59
	and Savonarola, great preacher	31:05
	of the Bible is a permanent reminder of our indebtedness	31:07
	to the past.	31:14
	These six public servants	31:17
	of church and state,	31:23
	these innovators of new concepts of thought and new patterns	31:27
	of struggle and sacrifice in the area	31:34
	of social development were different in their temperament	31:37
	and capacity but they were united in their dedication	31:42
	to the pursuit of truth.	31:47
	When walking through the portal into this chapel hundreds	31:51
	of times in these past years I have been influenced	31:57
	by this committee of greeters standing	32:02
	on either side whose common message to me and I think	32:05
	to America can be summed up in the two-fold statement.	32:11
	First, struggle and sacrifice are inescapable	32:17
	in the advancement of church and state.	32:24
	The ties which bind men together are often undiscovered	32:29
	except in the midst of some common misfortune	32:36
	and the second part of this two-fold statement which comes	32:44
	from these silent but real visitors or committee of greeters	32:48
	as visitors enter this chapel is neither the individual	32:58
	nor the nation should be afraid of difficulty.	33:03
	Strength is to be found here.	33:08
	Maturity requires in the second place regular examination	33:14
	or reexamination of the present.	33:19
	To be faithful	33:24
	to our beginnings also requires counting present days	33:24
	and the present era, the pessimist adds is one	33:30
	of foreboding.	33:34
	We suffer from the shock	33:38
	of having our self-confidence shaken,	33:40
	the rhetoric and the reality	33:44
	of our national policies simply do not match.	33:47
	Admittedly the world is hostile and depressed with barriers	33:52
	of suspicion between the old rich and the newly rich nations	34:00
	and with the flow of wealth in the amount	34:05
	of 10 billions of dollars having changed its direction	34:09
	in the course of one year.	34:16
	In looking at the present situation one would	34:20
	of course realistically have to say that the revolutions	34:24
	of the 20th century are not phony revolutions.	34:29
	They are not temporary revolutions.	34:36
	They are not expediential.	34:40
	There is an authenticity in the revolutions of modern man.	34:44
	President Marcus of the Philippines said	34:52
	only a few days ago, fresh winds are blowing	34:55
	across all of Asia.	35:00
	The words of Father Teilhard de Chardin written	35:04
	just a few years ago are applicable to Asia	35:08
	and to all other lands and peoples these days.	35:12
	There are new stirrings of human dole	35:16
	in all parts of the world.	35:23
	We are now well into the era of global living,	35:27
	a responsibility for which many of us,	35:35
	perhaps all of us were not prepared.	35:39
	Is it not true now that the highest function	35:44
	of the state is to promote a fellowship,	35:48
	a cooperative fellowship?	35:54
	Is this therefore a time for indulging further comment	35:58
	and thought to cynicism or is this the time	36:05
	for the, a manifestation of a new brand of faith,	36:10
	a more risk, realistic form of truth.	36:16
	We have been so preoccupied with the coercive functions	36:22
	of government and indeed of education	36:30
	that we have neglected the cohesive functions.	36:34
	Is it not high time to evaluate our present relationships	36:40
	and responsibilities to the total world?	36:46
	This heart of wisdom	36:55
	of which the Psalmist poet sung does not come	37:01
	and cannot come in a day.	37:07
	It comes through countless days,	37:12
	through counted days.	37:18
	Past days must be counted.	37:24
	Thomas Jefferson's statement,	37:30
	" I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided	37:32
	" and that is the lamp of experience," has validity	37:38
	for America and Americans still.	37:44
	Documents produced in the past.	37:51
	Holy writ, the declarations of great councils of church	37:55
	and state, the fruit of poetic minds,	38:01
	the ponderings of philosophers and interpreters	38:06
	of life's meaning as given by great novelists.	38:11
	These must be counted and recounted	38:15
	and the future though, uncertain must also be estimated	38:22
	but the careful measurement	38:28
	of the present is the essential responsibility of each of us	38:31
	and our prayer with the Psalmist poet must continue	38:39
	to be, oh Lord teach us to count,	38:45
	not to discount, not to miscount but to count these days	38:53
	in this cataclysmic and critical era when whole patterns	39:02
	of thinking and living are quivering and twisting	39:10
	and settling into new patterns and shapes or configurations,	39:17
	teach us oh Lord to count these days.	39:25
	Now that is the sermon but I have a footnote	39:37
	In a few days, I shall approach the entrance to Duke Chapel	39:50
	and stand before the stature of Thomas Jefferson again,	40:00
	and by some means,	40:09
	some real means of communication I shall attempt to say,	40:15
	Mr. Jefferson, In all candor,	40:27
	I must admit, I have never understood what you mean	40:34
	by the pursuit of happiness.	40:41
	One of those inalienable rights which you list	40:45
	in the declaration of independence.	40:51
	Now you have been standing in this position a long time	40:55
	and you have seen hundreds of thousands	41:00
	of people enter Duke Chapel and depart from Duke Chapel,	41:03
	you must know that many	41:10
	of these people are not happy people.	41:14
	They are, for the most part educated,	41:22
	they are intelligent,	41:29
	some of them are wealthy, all of them are interested	41:32
	in what you have written and the abiding influence	41:37
	of your life in this country and upon the world,	41:41
	they are proud of the position that America occupies	41:46
	as a nation of power and they love to quote your words	41:50
	even from the pulpit of this chapel	41:57
	but they are not happy people.	42:01
	They are cynical, their faith in the basic institutions,	42:07
	the courts, the government, the schools, the family,	42:18
	the church is weak.	42:25
	They distrust one another.	42:30
	They are afraid of people living	42:33
	in other parts of the world.	42:35
	They speak of their own governmental leaders today	42:38
	in derogatory terms, often saying	42:42
	that men of real honor and ability cannot even be elected	42:48
	to public office.	42:57
	Mr. Jefferson, when you wrote about the pursuit	43:01
	of happiness,	43:08
	did you mean perhaps the pursuit of maturity?	43:12
	Let us pray.	43:23
	Again, we offer under thee oh God, our thanks	43:28
	that we are not alone, that we do live in God's world,	43:33
	that God can be trusted and that life need not be depressing	43:42
	and defeating, life can be a celebration.	43:52
	Assist us oh God as we seek the maturity necessary	44:01
	to preserve this kind of faith, Amen.	44:09
	(gentle instrumental music)	44:22
	(calm instrumental music)	46:49
	(gentle instrumental music)	48:31
	(lively instrumental music)	51:30
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	53:31
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	53:36
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	53:38
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	53:43
-	Oh God, you who need not to be enriched	54:01
	with any gifts which we may bring,	54:05
	yet you who love a cheerful giver receive these offerings,	54:09
	which we present before you and with them, ourselves,	54:15
	our souls and bodies as a living sacrifice,	54:22
	holy and acceptable to you	54:28
	through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.	54:31
	(lively instrumental music)	54:38
	Paul writes in second Corinthians,	58:43
	"Finally, friends farewell.	58:45
	"Be perfect.	58:49
	"Be of good comfort.	58:50
	"Be of one mind, live in peace and the God of love	58:53
	"and peace shall be with you."	58:59
	The grace of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.	59:04
	The love of God, the father,	59:10
	the communion and fellowship of the holy spirit,	59:13
	be with you and abide with you	59:17
	and those whom you love now and forever	59:20
	(gentle instrumental music)	59:27
	♪ Amen ♪	59:31
	♪ Amen ♪	59:37
	♪ Amen ♪	59:43
	♪ Amen ♪	59:48
	♪ Amen ♪	59:56
	♪ Amen ♪	1:00:05
	♪ Amen ♪	1:00:17
	(bell ringing)	1:00:32
	(lively instrumental music)	1:00:48

Item Info

Title:

W. Arthur Kale - "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Maturity" (June 22, 1975)

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https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4xs5pj35

Date:

June 22, 1975

Speaker:

Kale, W. Arthur

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Duke University. Chapel

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UA.17.01.0003 RR-0779
ref6758_nh3
uachapelsermaud
duke:628088
dcrau002744
ark:/87924/r4xs5pj35
c15af12a-f777-4dc1-bc91-243a84e79500

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Duke Chapel Recordings

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W. Arthur Kale - "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Maturity" (June 22, 1975)

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