Song of the Sirens – Sunday, December 30, 1984
Ancient sailors heard its plaintive cry along the coast of Greece pulling them to uncharted shores; and Vikings heard the call above the whistling sound of ocean spray and kept their prows toward the unexplained; then Columbus listened to its whisper in the billowing canvas of his sails and pushed onward toward the unknown.
The song of the sirens —ever drawing men to uncharted waters, to untried roads and untaken risks —ever seducing them away from the mundane, from the vileness of institutional security, the comfort of conformity and the stagnation of daily routine.
What sang the sirens? They sang of all that lies beyond our reach, but not beyond our hope and aspirations; of the beautiful but unseen; of feelings unexpressed. They sang of a long-lost faith which man still needs.
To these they sang, and sing: to poets, philosophers, and prophets; to takers of untraveled roads, sailors of deep waters, riders of whirlwinds and dreamers of dreams —to all who put the spirit before the body, who prefer results over ease; to those who have not forgotten that there are things like truth and beauty; to those who still cherish the youthful thrill of discovery; who would rather fail attempting the exquisite than succeed in stagnant captivity.
For the most part, we live upon alms—buying and selling daily, worshipping the idols of the marketplace, defiling our own innate goodness and strivings for freedom, serving out our days in slavery with a servitude grown sweet by repetition and routine; content in our bondage, blissfully ignorant in our despair; we who have forgotten that the untiring pursuit of an unattainable beauty is what gives meaning and depth to existence.
Discovery, challenge, investigation —trudging upward across chasm and through mountain pass, in search of the burning bush —this is our divine inheritance.
Still sing the sirens, unheard by many and heeded by few. Over dense-packed cities and fast-moving freeways, above the din of modern civilization, still floats the timeless ring of their refrain:
Despite the hazard, and the pain,
Without risk there is no gain.
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December 30, 1984
Broadcast Number 2,889