Religion in life

Media

Part of The Cabletow

Title: Religion in life
Creator: Osias, Camilo
Language: English
Source: The Cabletow Volume XXXVIII (No. 4) October 1962
Year: 1962
Rights
Fulltext: RELIGION IN LIFE By MWB CAMILO OSIAS, P.G.M. An address delivered under the aus pices of the Men’s Club, Knox Memorial Church, Manila, September 30, 1962 Gentlemen and Fellow Christians: I accepted your invitation on the assumption that you are believers of Christ and Christianity. Let me state at the outset that religion is essential and necessary in the life of the individual, jn the life of the nation, in the life of mankind. Humanity has need of education and religion. What is the central thought in both? The answer is: Life, the good life. If we are in terested in education and religion, and we must be, we must see that they function in our lives and in the lives of our fellowmcn. As you know I have long served in the field of education. Recent ly I was chosen President of the Educational Center of Asia which my co-workers and I hope to con vert into the University of Asia. It is my purpose to serve the cause of education to the end of my earthly existence. My philosophy of edu cation is outlined in several books the latest volume being one with the title Life-Centered Education. In the Preface this paragraph ap pears: ‘ The main thesis is that life is central and it is the business of education to enrich and elevate life — life of the individual in its intirety, life of society as a whole. The contention is that what is important o life is what chiefly concerns educa tion and conversely whatever does not touch or affect life is of little or no consequence to education." If the good Lord will give me more years and strength I hope to write a companion volume to be entitled Life-Centered Religion. In religion as in education life is cen tral. We who arc Christians believe in life everlasting. It must be axio matic to all thinking persons that religion is a way of life; that reli gion must take effect in conduct; tliat religion to be of real value is life itself; that its goal is the good life now and hereafter. There is a group of people in the world known as Masons. They form a nucleus of leaders in every civilized country who preach and live the eternal doctrine of the Fatherhood of God and the Broth erhood of man irrespective of race, nationality, or creed. They exem plify the good life, temporal and eternal. Masonry is not an organ ized religion seeking to proselyte or to fight any church, but it is in a very true sense spiritual or, if you please, religious. The founder of the Christian re Jigion was sent to our planet to save man and mankind. The mis sion of Christ was to establish a faith rooted in salvation and resur rection. These are among the prime essentials of the Christian religion. Sermons and Sunday School classes and gatherings in the Christian churches should center upon the simple message that Christ can and docs save. Christ Himself voiced the prin ciple of a life-centered religion when He said, “I am come that ye might have life, and have it more abun dantly.” Life, abundant and rich, was and is the great objective of the leachings of Christ and His disci ples. By disciples I mean not only those close to Him when He was on earth but all who believe in salvation and in life everlasting. Religion has for its mission the conversion of the bad and indif ferent life into a life that is good and active. It seeks to make a good man a better man. Perfecti bility is the guiding principle, per fection is the goal. A high com pliment was paid by Jesus to man in the Sermon on the Mount when He said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48) With God as our guide we may approach, even attain, perfection. The good life is not the exclu sive prerogative or patrimony of any man or group of men. It is a boon to all who zealously will to achieve the good life. It is not 1 eserved for people of any parti cular epoch. In the Old Testament days the Lord showed man what is good and what he must do to at tain it. We have this in Micah 6:8: “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” The good life and the salvation of souls have not been vouchsafed to people of a particular faith -- not to people who embraced the Chris tian religion only. It is not logical nor reasonable to think or to be lieve that none before the coming of Christ to this earth was saved. Does it make sense to consider all who do not belong to a particular church have been denied the good life and the boon of salvation from the beginning of time to this good hour? Did not Jesus give to one of those sinners being crucified with him on Mount Calvary who had faith that Jesus “hath done nothing amiss” this assurance of salvation: “Verily I say unto thee, Today shall thou be with me in paradise”? (Luke 23:43) It does not comport with sound reason for any group of Christians to believe that only they are eligible to be saved to the exclusion of all others even other fellow Christians. I do not share the belief that sal vation is reserved exclusively lor a specified body of church commun icants. Under a just God and an understanding Savior there must be salvation or at least hope of salva tion and heavenly life for men and tvomen who have faith and love, children of Our Father in heaven RELIGION IN LIFE 97 who are good and Godly, whose lives are serviceable and holy. Religion which teaches the good life and seeks saved lives is not limited by creedal, geographical, or racial boundaries. It is universal. It is also multicolored. As the Creator in His infinite wisdom created men of varied colors. He must have intended the good life and the salvation, which both mo rality and religion hold forth, for His human creatures regardless of place of birth or pigmentation. Christianity, as one of the great religions, fosters not only the good but the best in a human being. Religion and morality have been held precious and priceless by pro phets and seers, thinkers and phi losophers, bards and writers, artists and artisans, savants and tlie un lettered, — by all men of noble impulses from time immemorial. They are indeed eternal verities. People and peoples have exalted and will ever exalt what is moral and spiritual because morality and religion inspire lives to be purpose ful. They cultivate the human and the divine in life and in living. Moses left the legacy of the Ten Commandments. Buddha prescribed what have been styled as “The Right Rules of Life” and “Five Commands of Uprightness.” Confucius taught a great princi ple when he said, “Do not do unto others what you do not wish others do unto you.” Jesus gave the positive Golden Rule, "Do unto others what you wish others do unto you.” Deuteronomy records what has been deemed “Israel’s testament of faith in which the redemptive love of God and the whole duty of man in God’s service is nobly and con vincingly proclaimed.” The words ascribed to Moses need not be con fined to the Israelites. They hold meaning for other peoples of other times and climes. Said Moses: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord Our God, the Lord is One. And thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart; and shall teach them diligently unto thy children ...” The present world it seems, has dime upon evil times. Many peo ples, our people included, have not taken this divine message seriously to heart. Our generation has failed to love the Lord Our God in the sppit of the heavenly command. And parents are not teaching God's words diligently to their children. The essence of God’s message has been transmitted from place to place and from generation to gen eration. In the course of the years it reached these shores and found lodgment in the hearts and minds and consciences of at least some of our people. It is highly significant that the greatest of our race, Jose Rizal, paid heed to the divine man date and believed in God and lived the religion of his choice. Other KiJIipino leaders, Mabini, Jacinto, Bonifacio and others likewise exem plified the faith and in the dcca98 THE CABLE TOW October, 1962 logues and ethical codes which they fashioned for life’s guidance they avowed love of God. In our country there are evidences of moral decadence. In the olden days the bamboo ladder of the or dinary house in town or barrio sym bolized the honesty of our people. When the ladder which was attach ed to the house by a rope was tilted, all passers by respected it. Nobody dared enter the dwelling place though all the occupants were away. Now, houses with locks and iron bars are invaded and much of their contents arc carted away. And the moral blight is general. The me tropolitan papers display in bold head lines cases of robbery in plain daylight; pedestrians held up on the city streets; churches and cemeteries desecrated; malversation of funds, falsification of public documents, padding of payrolls and expense accounts, influence peddling, plain graft and corruption. Cheating in the classrooms and in bar or civil service examinations, undergrading and upgrading of the prices of com modities bought and sold, pilferages in the most unexpected quarters, and other forms of perversion swell the proofs of the prevalence of vice and sin and crime. These are a challenge to moral leaders and religious institutions, and civic organizations. Churches have to fight and church leaders and members must be active and militant. One wonders whethci we have become soft and we are too ready to compromise or be callous and indifferent; whether it is in the direction of right to be silent on the fear of God and the danger of eternal damnation. It is admitted that appeal to man’s better nature is commendable, that the emphasis on righteousness and virtue is cor rect, that it is good philosophy to teach a person to do what is right not because of fear of punishment or expectation of reward but sim ply because it is right. True reward is inherent in a good deed. The good and righteous way of life here and now is the means to bring about a new heaven and a new earth. The times verily call for reform. Our society calls for crusades and crusaders for morality and religion. The Philippines demands enlighten ed religionists. Church leaders and ordinary members have to make their religion vital and living by habitual reading and studying and thinking. What shall we read? Of course, lead religious books of your choice. But one book is indispensable — the Bible. The Bible is matchless as a source of inspiration. It is a multipurpose book. It is rich as history', biogra phy, literature. It contains beau tiful prose and inspiriting poetry. It’ teaches truth and beauty. It is replete with philosophy and there fore it enriches, ennobles, and elev ates life. Church men such as you can do much to diffuse the Bible. One of the great achievements of our gen eration is the translation of the Bi ble and its popularization. Many homes unfortunately are without books. Let us begin with the Bible. In the United States there is a group of good and Godly men who RELIGION IN LIFE give their lime and substance to sec that every hotel room is fur nished with a copy of the Bible. Such men are real ministers and evangelists. What a blessed thing it would be if the Bible goes to the hut of the peasant and to the palatial home of the rich and the iniellecual! The truths of the Bible and the riches of a life-centered religion can serve to awaken a desire for a great er and better Philippines, yes a greater and better world. Let us sec to it that as we glow in num ber we also rise in stature and deep en in our devotion to the quest of the good life and salvation. AAA SIGN OF CORRECT LUBRICATION MY ANSWERED PRAYERI asked for strength that I might achieve; I was made weak that I might obev. I asked for health that I might do greater things; I was given infirmity that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy; I was given poverty that I might be wise. I asked for power that I might have the praise of men; I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life; I was given life that I might enjoy all things. I received nothing I asked for — all that I hoped for. My prayer is answered. I am blessed. —Anonymous Makers and Marketers of Mobil Automotive Products Mobil Industrial Olla and Greases Mobil Oil Philippines Inc. MANILA • CEBU • ILOILO » DAVAO 100 THE CABLE TOW October, 1962