The White Falcon - 11.09.1965, Blaðsíða 8

WHITE FALCON
Saturday, September 11, 1965
Early Life Built Awareness,
Led To Schweitzer’s Decision
(Continued from page 1.)
began wrestling with moral prob-
lems as a sensitive child— the son
of a parson—who was looked upon
by less fortunate schoolmates with
scorn; raised in the village of
Gunsbach, he became intensely
aware of the hardship of others.
“It is an uncomfortable doc-
trine which the true ethic whis-
pers in your ear,“ he would
write. “You are happy, it says;
therefore you are called upon to
give much. Whatever more than
others you have received in
health, natural gifts, working
capacity, success, a beautiful
childhood, harmonious family cir-
cumstances, you must not accept
them as a matter of course. You
must pay a price for them. You
must show more than an average
devotion to life.”
Momentous Decision
When he was 21, having at 18
entered the University of Strass-
bourg, he made his momentous de-
cision, recorded later in his auto
biography, Out of My Life and
Thought (1933), “I would con-
sider myself justified in living un-
til I was thirty for science and
art, in order to devote myself
from that time forward to the
direct service of humanity.”
For the next nine years, he fol-
lowed three simultaneous careers:
music, philosophy, theology, earn-
ing doctorates in each field. At 24
he became a preacher at Strass-
bourg’s Church of St. Nicholas,
and saw, in the same year, publi-
cation of his first’ philosophical
study. The Religious Philosophy
of Kant.
Master Organist
Already a master organist (he
had been playing since he was
nine) and organ-builder, he was
applauded as the foremost au-
thority on Johann Sebastian Bach,
having written the composer’s
biography first in French (pub-
lished in 1908).
His Quest of the Historical
Jesus (1906), which brought him
his first international reputation,
questioned the divinity of Christ
on the evidence that He had
shared the eschatological fallacies
of the Jews (the Messianic belief
that the end of the world was at
hand). “It is not Jesus as histori-
cally known,” Schweitzer wrote,
“but Jesus as spiritually arisen
within men, who is significant for
our time and can help it..”
Missionary Doctor
In 1905, at the age of 30,
Schweitzer kept his vow with a
resolution to study medicine and
spend the rest of his life as a
missionary doctor in Equatorial
Africa. The decision was made in
an attempt to find the meaning
behind Christ’s words:
Whosoever will save his life
shall lose it; but whosoever
will lose his life for My sake,
the same shall save it.
While studying for his M. D.
(his fourth degree), Schweitzer
found time to continue his
preaching nearly every Sunday,
to play organ concerts of the
Bach Society each winter in Paris,
and complete another important
theological treatise, Paul and His
Interpreters.
Missionary Settlement
In 1912 he married the daughter
of a Jewish colleague at Stras-
bourg University, Helene Bress-
lau (she died in 1957 at 79), who
prepared for her oncoming ordeal
by studying nursing (“so you can-
not go without me”). They set
out from Bordeaux on Good Fri-
day in 1913, to build their hos-
pital colony 50 miles south of the
Equator at Lambarene, a small
French Protestant missionary
settlement.
Schweitzer’s first surgery was
a ramshackle hen-house with a
broken roof. Until they were in-
terned by the French as enemy
aliens nine months later, during
the earlier days of World War I,
they had treated 2,000 native
cases, leprosy, strangulating her-
nia, heart disease, pneumonia
malaria, elephantiasis. Released
after the war, Dr. Schweitzer re-
mained in Europe (where his
daughter, Rhena, was born in
1919) to give a series of benefil
concerts, study obstetrics and den-
tistry, before rebuilding his Lam-
barene hospital (since demolished
by ants) in 1924.
Enlarges Facilities
Dr. Schweitzer was able to en-
large his facilities with his 1952
Nobel Prize money; his staff re-
mained small, but dedicated tc
their tasks and their stooped,
graying and sometimes gruff, but
grandfatherly taskmaster.
Acknowledging Schweitzer’s hu-
man weaknesses, Norman Cousins
said that “At Lambarene I learned
that a man does not have to be
an angel in order to be a saint.’
Schweitzer explains the Messiah
to the natives as “the King of our
hearts, who was sent by God.”
Visitors Criticized
He was criticized by visitors
who were appalled at the lack of
sanitary conditions and modern
medical facilities. “I have not
wanted to introduce these simple
people,” said Schweitzer, “to tech-
niques and tools upon which they
might learn to depend and which
would be unavailable to them (in)
their own communities.”
He continued to work until his
death on his manuscripts and play
on his heat-resistant, termite-re-
pellent piano.
Image Lives On
Though he is dead, his image
lives on and he continues to re-
mind the world at large: “Remain
human with your own soul.... If
you surrender the ideal of human
personality, then spiritual man is
ruined, and with the end of spiri-
tual man comes the end of civili-
zation, yes, indeed, the end of hu-
manity.”
YULETIDE NEARING—Santa Claus listens to a multitude of children
during the Toyland opening last Saturday.
P
u
SATURDAY
Matinee—The Great McGinty—Brian Donlevy
Evening—Town Tamer—Terry Morre, Dana Andrews
SUNDAY
Matinee—War Gods Of Bablyon—Howard Duff, Jackie Lane
Evening—Cat Ballou—Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin
MONDAY
Cat Ballou—Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin
TUESDAY
The Purple Mask—Tony Curtis, Colleen Miller
WEDNESDAY
The Purple Mask—Tony Curtis, Colleen Miller
THURSDAY
War Gods Of Babylon—Howard Duff, Jackie Lane
The Black Invaders—Anedeo Nazzari, Danielle Denetz
Shoivtime: 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday Matinees: 1:30 p.m.
Keflavik Births
Betsy Genine, daughter of SKC and Mrs. George Alverson, was
born Aug. 5. Chief Alverson is the storage branch supervisor of
Supply.
Michael Joe, son of ET3 and Mrs. Joe M. Marse, was born Aug. 6.
Marse is attached to the Naval Communication Station.
Donna Jane, daughter of A1C and Mrs. Donald Cox, was born
Aug. 16. Airman Cox is assigned to the Iceland Defense Force
Headquarters.
Nancy Suzanne, daughter of TSgt. and Mrs. Billy N. Jensen, was
born Aug. 27. Sergeant Jensen works at the hydraulics shop of the
57th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron.
Francine Clare, daughter of LT and Mrs. Henry C. Tucker, was
born Aug. 29. Lieutenant Tucker is the projects and engineering
officer of NavCommSta.
Delia Kristin, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George E. Howser, was
born Aug. 18 at the Icelandic State Hospital, Reykjavik. Mr. Howser
works in the technical division of the Supply Department.
by Neil Young
The Northern Lights Masonic
Club held a picnic in Thingvellir
on Aug. 29, which was enjoyed by
the 35 members and guests who
attended. Thanks go to Maj.
Walter Kiracofe, USMC, Mr. Jon
Gudmundsson and the others who
made the trip possible.
On Aug. 31, a special ceremony
took place in the office of the
Commanding Officer, Marine Bar-
racks, honoring the faithful ser-
vice of Cdr William J. Flannery
to the Masonic Club, in which the
club’s president, Jon Gudmunds-
son, presented Commander Flan-
nery with a Bless Certificate.
Future Events
Looking ahead on our calendar
for September and October, the
Masonic Club will have dinner at
7 p.m. on Sept. 14 in the NCO
Club party room. On Sept. 28 at
11:45 a.m., there will be a lunch-
eon at the same location. A special
evening is in store on Oct. 12
when we invite our wives and
guests to join us at the CPO
Club for “Ladies Night” with din-
ner followed by dancing.
If you are a qualified Mason in
good standing in your home lodge,
we hope you will join us at our
next meeting.
ENTERTAINMENT COMING—Little Dixie Lee Wilkinson, featured
in the Dave Bunker Quintet, will be performing comedy sketches, old
time and popular vocals, and Rock ‘n’ Roll numbers with the group
starting next week. The entertainers will be at the CPO Club Tuesday
night, Sept. 14; Wednesday and Friday, Sept. 15 and 17, at the Polar
Club; Saturday, Sept. 18, at the Officers’ Club and Sunday, Sept. 19,
at the NCO Club. They will be touring clubs on base during the
month of September.