The Basic Law; R. Bradford

THE BASIC LAW 3 The lord! Thus man has named the Power, The Savior, God, and Judge Supreme Concepts of majesty that tower Above the substance of his dream A lord to listen and to lead, And satisfy his constant need. 4 So men in new and ancient lands, Destined with sin and fear to cope, Have lifted heavenward their hands, To grasp the faded hem of hope, Beseeching light, and strength to pray: Help us, 0 lord, to find the Way! 5 For man has never been content, As centuries have COrTle and gone, To think that nothing more was meant By his creation than the spawn Of yet another fOrrTl of life To kindle Earth's eternal strife. 6 He hopes and prays for love and peace Among the nations; and he gropes For understanding and release From tribal hatreds; and he hopes That men will follow, more and more, The path of peace, away from war. 11 12 THE FREEMAN 7 And all the while his mind is torn With speculation, hope and doubt.

Why am I here? Why was I born? What is my being all about? Is man on earth by God's decree? What does existence mean to me? 8 Thus questioning, he probes the night For evidence of God's desi re, Seeki ng amid the stellar light The secret and eternal fi re Which hopeful men have ever seen Lighti ng the stars and worlds between. 9 What is the lesson he can draw? What moral do the stars declare The while we study them in awe, With hopeful eye and heart at prayer? For grace and strength and love we yearn What is there yet for us to learn? 10 Our mighty Earth is but a speck Agai nst the vastness of the sky; Our blazing sun is but a fleck Of flame that will explode and die And every planet, sun and moon Will fade and vanish, late or soon! January 1981 THE BASIC LAW 11 Thus speaks the counsel of despair, The pain that evermore assails The hopeful heart. But man will dare; His search for comfort never fails.

His questing eye is heavenward cast; His courage, like his hope, will last. 12 And somewhere in the aisles of space, Or in the temple of his heart, He,hears the whispered word of grace Which love and hope-and fear-impart: Be still, my son; your troubling cease; love God and man .... and be at peace! Ralph Bradford, of Ocala, Florida, is well known as a writer, poet, speaker, and business organization consultant. Reprints of this poem are available from The Foundation for Economic Education, Inc., Irvington-an-Hudson, N.Y. 10533 at 20 copies for $1.00. 13 John A. Sparks Nineteenth-Century AmericaOUR LEGACY OF PROSPERITY DESPITE the repetition of phrases like ~~the American economic mira cle" and ~~erican prosperitY,"·there are still very few Americans, col lege-age or otherwise, who can give a satisfactory answer to the ques tion asked me some years ago by a Korean friend: uHow is it that 4 mil lion people, located between the At lantic coastline and the Mississippi River, starting with very little in 1789, ended up with more than enough for 76 million people by 1900?"