Predicament of Human Incompetence 11
sensations follow the transaction, that is our pleasant sur-
prise which we cannot have in advance.
Our religion was given to the world in the drama of a
man’s life who entered into the lives of those who were mis-
understood, and shared their meaning while they shared
his. This religion cannot be had by argument or by scientific
discovery. It is a personal transaction with a universal, per-
sonal claim. No wonder people have difficulty understanding
a personal God while discussing Him as an object, or while
exploring the mysteries of the physical universe. The per-
sonal effect of God confronts us in our personal relations
with each other, like something alive. It is only as we get
together, with the best in each of us freely shared, that we
can know and explore “what is the good and acceptable
and perfect will of God,” forever too great and too good
for a few of us alone to know.
★
And now from this understanding of life in relation-
ship we can see in a new light the everlasting predicament
of human incompetence, which is the great thorn in the flesh
of humanity. We hate to admit it; our optimistic modern
world has tried to ignore it. But we cannot dodge the plain
fact that nobody can be all right.
That is the only common ground where all parties can
keep in contact. It is the incontestable, irreducible truth
about all of us in all countries, and in all classes. Would
that some stentorian voice could stop the whole warring
world in its tracks for two minutes of silence, in which each
man could say firmly to himself: “Nobody can possibly be
all right.” Recognition of this age-old fact should be the
first peace aim in any controversy.
We can be grateful that disillusioned youth have redis-
covered this ancient predicament of human life. They have
been frowned upon for their suspicion of the natural good-