A
Wednesday, " December 20, 1961
The Daily Nebraskjn
Page 2
A
Paths
No Room
There is a most discon
certing statement in the'
story of the Natvitiy. St.
Luke sayi bluntly there
was "no room" for God in
the village Inn at Beth
lehem! It does seem a
papardox that when He
who set the stars in their
courses chose to make a
visit to his planet, He
should be gretted by a
sign, "no vacancy."
What is the situation in
the twentieth century?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer has
said that the world has
come of age; it has ar
rived; it no longer needs
God. He sights these his
torical developments. In
theology it has been as
serted by some that "rea
son is the sufficient instru
ment of religious knowl
edge." In ethics "moral
principles" are substitutes
for the "ten command
ments." Politics has been
liberated "from the tute
lage of morality" and in
philosophy "there is a
growing tendency to as
sert the autonomy of man
and the world . . . There
Is no longer any need of
God as a working hypo
thesis, whether in morals,
politics, or science."
And yet God's coming
to man today is not un
like the "event" which
Christians commemorate
at Christmas time. Into
the world, which thought
it could do business with
out Him, God came in the
Incarnation The Word
became a human being,
and did dwell among men.
But how unlike a God,
born of a human being
and residing in a man
ger! What ignominy, and .
too profane for one so
great! Except for a few
He slipped into history
unnoticed.
But it didn't take long
before His coming was
felt, for His method of
operation was an irritant.
He began acting like GOD,
(Included iii the attributes
of God are goodness,
truth, Justice, and love.)
He began healing the sick,
looking out for the poor,
and defending the defense
less. ; He shared in the
stuff of which life is made
experiencing pain, tak
ing on suffering, forgiv
ing, loving. And He an
, nounced the "good news"
of th.e Kingdom.
And although the com
mon folk responded and
"heard Him gladly," He
was finally "edged out of
the world and on to a
cross." There really
wasn't room for God in
the world!
Today we have prog
ressed (?) Man has fi
nally gotten np the cour
age to declare his autono
my. As Bonhoeffer has
aid, tiie world has come
of age and does not need
God. There seems to be
no more room for Him to
day than on the eve of the
Nativity. True, the world,
at least Western culture,
Sves lip-service to the
rdship of Jesus Christ
ami a token recognition
of His precepts. But by
Letterip
h nH KalmakM win Mb!) Ik
fv nw a nMIM wit pea
WIS kn (rtw
rnrninr a nan um
awiS'sns. Larara aanald nnt nMI
IS. SOt
inMkaa itaanai' tax
Iloute Officer
Objects to BAIN
To the Editor:
In regard to the letter
submitted by BAINS-ites:
I was quite surprised to
read the opinion stated in
the letter which was
signed with the name of
my house for two rea
sons. First, the- opinion that
was stated in the letter
is not an official policy of
Benton house as was im
plied; and the person who
submitted the letter had
no power to state that it
' was. .
Secondly, I was not
aware that it is the prac
tice of the Daily Nebras-
Dailv Nebraskan
Blember Associated Collegiate Press. International Press
KegsreseniaMve: National Advertising Bervice. Incorporated
rtilitihed at: Roam SI. Student Union. Lincoln. Nebraska.
t SEVENTY-ONE YEARS OLD .
14th R
Telephone BE -7631 ext. 4225, 4228, 4227
fkibwrlptlaa rat, an 3 per aemaatw M St for tka academic year.
tmS as aaraaa claaa matter at the poat affle la U (, Naorunn,
aaW IN al Aarti-st 4, 1U.
1 "if IMul HmhrD.nl-tta Is pnallahad Monday, Tnaadaa, Wcdamday and FrJ
. S ti tna cbaol rear, except daring neatlona and axara aarlada, by
t..-..v of the Ualveralty of Neonuka ander anthorltacloa of tha Committee
n ...o-nt Affalra aa an axprmalon af atudont opinion Pnblltatlnn ander tna
i, Hadii-tloa of the NaheiimmlttM an Student Publication, aba II aa fore from
, ,,rial eenatmhlp on the part of the Subcommittee er on the part af any
mrmm outside (ha t'nlveralty. The memben af tna Dally Nebraakaa ataff ara
i v,rmiiy reaponribla (or what they aay, at da, a eauaa to aa printed.
aMruanf S, l.
of Life
For God?
and large mankind has
declared its autonomy.
This does not mean that
God does not exist; nor
does it mean that human
ity does not need Him;
nor does it mean that we
must necessarily attack
this autonomy. But it does
mean that we must under
stand that God can and
docs accomplish His will
by quite a different means
and approach than we con
sider workable and effec
tive. "God is "weak and
powerless in the world,
and that is exactly the
way, the only wty, in
which He can be with us
and help us. Matt. 8:17
makes it cyrstal clear
clear that it is not by His
omnipotence that Christ
helps us but His weakness
and suffering." Bon
hoeffer.) This season of the year,
known in the Christian
world as Advent and
Christmas, not only de
clares that God did make
His entrance once but that
He does so again and
again to as as many as do
receive Him. Matt. 18:3
suggests that the way to
receive Christ is to be
come like little children;
the way is that of re
pentance," which is ulti
mate honesty. In such
hearts God is pleased to
dwell.
The content of Christ
mas further suggests that
there is actually an al
ternative force. Wordly
powers have over the cen
turies resorted to arms to
settle their differences.
And today it is believed
that we can achieve peace
by flexing our nuclear
muscles. The megaton is
, made the symbol of peace.
Christians assert that the
"manger" is the symbol
of peace. God comes to
dwell with us in heart and
society. "No one may
hear His coming,, but in
this world of sin, where
meek souls will receive
Him still, the dear Christ
enters in." It is a unique
way (and strange, to
most), but it works; for
peace is impossible with
out reconciliation.
Even as God identified
Himself in Christ with hu
manity, so we, as Chris
tians, are invited to align
ourselves with God in His
sufferings. We are chal
lenged "to participate in
the sufferings of God at
the hands of a Godless
world." (Bonhoeffer)
Christ says, "Behold, I
stand at the door and
knock; if any man hear
my voice and open the
door, I will come in . . ."
It is finally up to us
whether or not we want
God (Christ) to dwell
among us. Is there room
in your life for God?
v (Dietrich 4 Bonhoeffer
was a Lutheran pastor in
Germany who because of
his opposition to the Nazi
regime was imprisoned,
and hanged just five days
before the allied forces
liberated the area.)
Alvln M. Petersen
Campus Pastor, NLC
Lutheran Student Foundation
mi thoM kttm wklrk an tic.
um ar Initial a. Rowarar, lettrra
air Initial! onlr ai tt dttor'h
rilM to eaadenaa tham, retaining tha
zn wan. wnnn mm nnwea taia
kan to publish letters
which appeared to be
statements of house policy
but which were not signed
by an officer of the house.
Sincerely,
Rod Marshall
President of Benton House
Thanks to Staff
Dear Mr. Beatty:
Many thanks to you and
to your staff for letting
the students and faculty
know about the. "Latin
American Prize" and the
Spanish Fellowship p r o
gram. We hope to continue in
creasing our work and
with your help, I am sure
, it will be successful.
Sincerely yours,
Roberto Esquenazi-Mayo
The
BY
Setting:
Santaland
North. Pole 1
Earth
Time:
1961 years
after Christ
Compressed by the
bristling commercial com
plex to the south, the San
taland & Far Northern
Railroad and the sprawl
ing Santaland Interstate,
the Christmas IDEAS de
partment was stuffed into
a variety of sedate build
ings which had been de
signed by efficient Santa
land architects of the San
ticlus Victorious period.
The purpose of the IDEAS
department was to origi
nate and develop new
ideas designed to spread
happiness and enlighten
ment throughout the world
of mortals. In order to fa
cilitate these develop
ments, the department
had been divided into sub
departments such as the
Engineering S.D., the
Business S.D., and Law
S.D.
However, all was not
well in Santaland and as
Santa (or Big Red as he
was affectionately known
in the IDEAS department)
sat pondering, several
problems entered his
kindly reflections. The girl
elves who volunteered to
work in the IDEAS de
partment often thought too
much about the boy elves.
The boy elves often
thought too much about
the girl elves and promo
tions to higher pay. Un
ion elves spent a great
deal of time trying to re
cruit new members and
non-union elves spent a
great deal of time trying
to antagonize the unions.
All of these problems were
overshadowed by a pro
duction problem: The
IDEAS department was
not producing ideas to
solve the problems of men.
True, the elves were
sometimes lazy and the
supervisors often did not
stimulate their minds, but
Santa knew that the pro
duction problem stemmed
University
Flying Club
Meeting
Thursday, Dec. 21
at 7:30
at Union Airport
EVERYBODY
WEltOME
For information call:
NEAL THOMSSEN
466-5052
University
Season's Greetings
TOM EASON
in part from the use of
the idea-evaluation s y s
i tem which had been de
signed by an efficient San
taland psychologist of the
p o s t-Santiclus-Thorn-dikeus
period. The psy
chologist had proposed a
system in w h i c h the su
pervisor was to assign an
evaluation number from
one to nine to each idea
submitted by the elves,
with the highest numbers
going to the best ideas. In
this way, the elves could
determine their relative
OAYAFTftOAY
Gofds
OF NEBRASKA
MAS MORI O IVUYTHIN4
-w
W t
. X ItonWIIlff Ot
Karen Banting
i
Sherrill Geiitlinger .
Sharon Anienon
Janet Hoeppnmr Jeann
progress in contributing to
the efforts of the depart
ment. On paper, it was an
efficient system.
The problem was, of
course, that for many of
the elves, the evaluation
(Continued on Page 4)
TODSIT Kidisixnr
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Gold's 1961 College Advisory Board
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ir
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k Set ... 2.95
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