The Law of Nature

Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) explained a certain fact of life in these words:

“No steam or gas ever drives anything until it is confined. No Niagara is ever turned into light and power until it is tunnelled. No life ever grows until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined.” (Harry Emerson Fosdick, Living Under Tension)

There is but one law of nature, which applies to both animate and inanimate objects. It is that there is a price to be paid for every objective aimed at in life: without paying that price, nothing can be achieved.

In this world one has to sink before one can rise; one has to resign oneself to loss before one can gain, to backwardness before one can advance; one has to be able to accept defeat before one can claim victory.

The world in which man lives has been created by God, not by man himself. This may appear to be a simple fact, but it is one that man usually forgets in his everyday life. Since we are living in God’s world, we have no alternative but to understand His laws and follow them. There is no other way we can make a place for ourselves in the world.

Those who wish to advance and be successful in life without passing through the necessary stages, will have to build another world for themselves—one which satisfies their own requirements; for in the world that God has created, their dreams can never come true.