Part 22

The word freedom, however, must not suffer a wrong interpretation. Freedom needs to recognize its own proper limits, and it will do so in any properly organized social system. Such a measure as the prohibition of the manufacture and sale of liquor is not paternalism. It is merely the protection of the individual by the group.

The only freedom which any man, good or bad, can justly claim is the freedom which ends at the point of injury to another. No one has any right to deny such a measure of liberty to any man. No one has the right to claim any measure of liberty beyond it.

The reformers so often accused of efforts at paternalism have really had no thought of limiting the freedom of any one beyond this line of democratic necessity. They have not been looking at the question from that angle. They have been thinking neither of liberty nor of the lack of it. Their consideration has not been so much the imagined rights of the sinning as it has been the real rights of those sinned against. The limit to freedom which prohibition implies is only one which should have been set long ago by the reasonable thinking of amiable humanity. It is a rather pitiful fact that it became necessary to have laws to do what the rational conscience had failed to do.

The fact that the innocent have been protected against a man and that he has been protected against himself gives him no right to insist that his liberties have been unjustly curtailed. He has only been aided in the interpretation of liberty in such a way as to be able to see that it belongs to others as well as to himself.

Those who have braved the storm of misjudgment and abuse, so often the portion of one who tries to be true to a great trust, did not seek the destruction of any business nor the poverty of any class of men. The thought which spurred them on was that of cheerless firesides, of hungry stomachs, of shivering bodies, of dwarfed and neglected lives, and of the threatened blight of a nation. It was not a question of paternalism. It was one of protection.

When the nation has banished the saloon from its every nook and corner, as it will soon do, no one can justly say that ours has become a paternalistic government. Our government will simply have taken a forward step in the fundamental task of any government—the service and protection of its people.

When one finds another with a bottle of poison to his lips or with a gun to his temple, no one calls him a meddler for striking the threatening menace to the ground. In prohibition legislation, the national government will only have stricken aside the weapon in time to preserve many a man from destruction. Unborn generations will thus be saved from a curse which has long hounded the human race.

Vibration as a Basis of Invention (1919)

The person who would give to the world some great invention must not deceive himself into thinking that he can do it by creative processes. It is not our function to create. It is our province only to adapt the laws and forces already in existence to our needs. The process is really a relative rather than a creative one. The laws and forces are here. It is our work to relate ourselves to them. One cannot build a machine that will do anything. He can only construct a mechanism through which the already existing laws of nature can operate.

Another mistake apt to be made by the amateur, and one which will lead him farther away from instead of nearer to success, is the entertainment of the notion that a wonderful mechanism must necessarily be complex. The wonderful thing about nature, after all, is its simplicity. The mechanism which is to establish a point of contact between us and a force of nature must be as simple in its principle as the force itself.

The notable thing about almost any of our great inventions is the simplicity of their design and operative principle. After observing the action of any of them, one is quite apt to turn away and inwardly remark that he could have done the same thing himself if he had only thought of it. Of course, the chief approach to any notable achievement is the matter of thinking of it. Most of us do not think of these things, and the reason is often the fact that we are looking for something complex when the real principle is very simple.

The problem of the would-be inventor or discoverer, then, is not one of adding something to the universe as it stands. His work is to ponder the forces that have long operated and the laws by which they have operated, and then relate his work to some one of them. One of the chief of these, and one upon which some of our notable inventions have been based, is the universal fact of vibration.

The first great inventions which are based upon the vibration theory were made long before any of us were born, and each of us has been given a free sample of both. One is named the eye, while the other is known as the ear. So far as that is concerned, the work of the actual nerves at the surface of the skin is based upon the same principle.

The other day in a medical laboratory I was examining a dissection of the human head made with a view to showing the nerves in their relation to the spinal trunk and to the brain. The brain had been removed down to where its base rests upon the spinal stem. I was not so much interested in the countless fibers running off from the entire length of the spinal cord nearly so much as the two sets of nerves which have to do with seeing and hearing. Off from the spinal stem, just below the base of the brain, two large nerves ran forward to the eyes, and two other large ones ran aside to the ears. These were the optic and the auditory nerves, respectively.

These are the means which the Ruling Genius of the universe has established by which the person may maintain his contact with the outward world. One of these sets takes up vibrations and reports them in terms of light. The other takes vibrations and reports them in terms of sound. The two sets look almost precisely alike. The means by which they are made to distinguish vibrations into these two different forms of interpretation remains a mystery, unless it be that they are made sensitive only to given lengths and types of waves.

The eye was the first camera, and the inventor of the photographic process necessarily had to base his work on precisely the same principle. A sensitive surface had to be provided; a means had to be established whereby it might receive and be affected by ether vibrations of given lengths; then the result, which in the case of the eye is so temporary, had to be chemically fixed and thereby rendered permanent.

The phonographic process is related to the vibration theory of sound just as the photographic process is based upon the wave theory of light. A phonographic record is simply the photograph of a sound. A surface had to be provided which was capable of receiving the record of the vibrations which make a given sound. The means had to be provided by which they could be permanently recorded there. Then a mechanism capable of reproducing them made the phonograph complete. The same effect was produced upon the ear as would have been produced by the original vibrations themselves. Thereby the thing which is fleeting and temporary to the ear was rendered more or less permanent. These two inventions proved once and for all the truth of the theories on which they were based.

Telegraphy and telephony, both ordinary and wireless, are likewise based upon phases of the vibration principle. Each in its day has been revolutionary. We are, however, only upon the threshold of achievement in these vibratory means of communication. Each is simple, when once achieved, because each is based on ordinary and everyday laws of nature. Those who are improving upon the processes already established are not those who are trying to find different paths. They are those who are seeking a closer acquaintance with natural laws as they are, and who are seeking better ways of relating ourselves to those laws. We cannot alter natural forces. We can only improve upon their use.

There is a great field for scientific and inventive progress of an intensive nature. As we move forward in the effort to gain a little firmer hold upon natural processes, we find ourselves able to throw away today equipment which was very necessary yesterday. First, we could carry communication farther and better with metal media between the communicating points. Now we do it equally well without the artificial media.

A few years ago a scientist announced that he could accumulate, concentrate, and unloose a vibratory force sufficient to wreck the planet on which we live. Should anyone want to do such a thing, and should the rest of the world be willing, there is little doubt that such a thing would be possible. There is probably no limit to the harm that could be done by harnessing up the ever-present vibrations to an evil end. Neither is there any limit to the good they can be made to do when intelligently turned to worthy purposes.

Probably the statement of the scientist mentioned above was, after all, only a part of the truth. Someone has said that one cannot move his finger without displacing the elements of the universe all the way to the farthest star. Vibration is not only here but everywhere. It carries light to us from so far that years are required for the journey. It is not inconceivable that it might be made to do the same with sound.

Certainly it could be made to do the same with ideas if two conditions could be fulfilled. First, there would have to be living and intelligent beings elsewhere in the universe. Second, there would have to be a common code or basis of interpretation between ourselves and them. About the first, we do not know. As to the second, no one yet sees how to accomplish such a thing. Archimedes could have moved the world with a lever if he had only had a place to stand, but of course he did not have it, so the possibility was spoiled. The principle of the lever, however, held just as good as though the impossible condition could have been fulfilled. Likewise, the law of vibrations would permit of a system of wireless out into the reaches of space. The difficulty is not with the law.

Nature probably holds some provision for our every want. We need only to establish the means by which she can deliver her gifts to us. The universe thrills with life and action. Out of its heartthrobs we shall be able to gather many a blessing.

APPENDIX 1: BYLINES, BIBLIOGRAPHY, NOTES

Related poems and essays cited in the notes are attributed to Flynn unless specified otherwise.

The Ambassador. Byline: Rev. Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Expositor_. Sep 1929. pp. 1338–39. Note: Story of the golden calf (Exodus 32).

The Association of Mind and Muscle. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Kindergarten-Primary Magazine_. Vol. 31 No. 1. Manistee, MI: Sep 1918. pp. 14–15. Notes: 1) “be doers of the word and not hearers only” (James 1:22), 2) “The sending of such young people into the arena of action;” poems: “The Teacher v1923,” “Domsie,” 3) “Knowledge has the largest of all potentialities;” poem, “Iron.”

Building a World Brotherhood. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _American Messenger_. Vol. 76 No. 7. New York: The American Tract Society, Jul 1918. p. 103. Note: “Jesus recognized no artificial and arbitrary barriers;” examples: Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29–37), eating with sinners and tax collectors (Mark 2:13–17).

Capitalizing War for the Tobacco Trade. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Sunday School Journal_. Vol. 51 No. 5. Cincinnati: The Methodist Book Concern, May 1919. pp. 271–72.

Children and the Church. Byline: Rev. Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _American Messenger_. Vol. 80 No. 6. New York: The American Tract Society, Jun 1922. p. 89. Notes: 1) Church as “leavening force” (Luke 13:20–21), 2) Roman Catholic worship using “a strange tongue” is likely referring to Latin, which replaced Greek in the 2nd century CE; Latin was replaced by vernacular languages after the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s, 3) Responsibility for children’s religious training; essay, “The Three Agencies in Child Training.”

Christianity and Americanism. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _American Messenger_. Vol. 78 No. 11. New York: The American Tract Society, Nov 1920. p. 173. Note: National life flows from the people; essay, “What Makes a City?”

The Christian Program. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Northwestern Christian Advocate_. Vol. 68 No. 26. Chicago: The Methodist Book Concern, Jun 16, 1920. p. 664. Note: Parables of mustard seed (Matthew 13:31–32) and leaven (13:33).

The Christian Standard of Greatness. Byline: Rev. Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _American Messenger_. Vol. 80 No. 8. New York: The American Tract Society, Aug 1922. p. 117. Notes: 1) Jesus discusses greatness with his disciples (Mark 9:33–35), 2) Jesus speaks of losing and finding one’s life (Matthew 10:39, 16:25), 3) Jesus doing good (Acts 10:38).

The Christ of the Sea. Byline: Dr. Clarence E. Flynn, Pastor of Trinity M. E. Church. Source: _Berkeley Daily Gazette_. Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Gazette Publishing Company, Dec 25, 1929. p. 8. Notes: 1) Jacob uses a stone as a pillow (Genesis 28:11), 2) Angels sing at birth of Jesus (Luke 2:14), 3) Jesus speaks about being born again (John 3:3), 4) Saving one’s life by losing it (e.g., John 12:25), 5) Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12), 6) Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39), 7) Jesus speaks to rich, young man (Matthew 19:16–22).

Contributed essay to a symposium on “The Church and Young People”. Byline: Rev. Clarence E. Flynn, Pastor, First Methodist Episcopal Church, Princeton, IN. Source: _The Sunday School Journal_. Vol. 52 No. 4. Cincinnati: The Methodist Book Concern, Apr 1920. pp. 203–04. Notes: 1) Tobacco propaganda; essay, “Capitalizing War for the Tobacco Trade,” 2) Training children’s mind, body, religious instinct, and social relationships; essay, “The Three Agencies in Child Training.”

The Church’s Fourfold Program. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Living Church_. Vol. 67 No. 1. Milwaukee: Morehouse Publishing Co., May 6, 1922. p. 16. Notes: 1) Evangelism as the thing the Church has been set to do (Matthew 28:16–20), 2) “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3), 3) Christian education in the home and school; essay, “The Three Agencies in Child Training.”

Civilization. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Social Science_. Vol. 5 No. 1. Winfield, KS: Pi Gamma Mu, International Honor Society in Social Sciences; Nov 1929–Jan 1930. pp. 92–93. Notes: 1) The source listed this story as an editorial piece, 2) From the source’s “Contributors” section (p. 130): “CLARENCE E. FLYNN is pastor of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, the university church, Berkeley, California. He is a graduate of De Pauw University and holds the D. D. degree from that institution. His work in the past consists of pastorates of several churches, superintendency of the Bloomington, Indiana, district of the Methodist Episcopal Church, magazine articles, poems and edited works in connection with Methodist denominational work.” [DePauw conferred the Doctor of Divinity degree honorarily.]

The Comrade Perfect: An Appreciation. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Youth_. Vol. 3 No. 11. Kansas City: Unity School of Christianity, Nov 1929. p. 6. Notes: 1) “Him who was called Immanuel, or God with us” (Matthew 1:23), 2) “the coming of the spirit divine” (Acts 2:1–4), 3) God seeks a place in human hearts; poems: “The King,” “No Room in the Inn,” 4) God as immanent; poems: “The Creator,” “God’s Manners,” “The Voices of God,” 5) Providence; poems: “The God of the Beginning,” “What Does It Matter?”

The Corner Stones of Life. Byline: Rev. Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Expositor_. Vol. 27 No. 1. Cleveland: F. M. Barton Co., Oct 1925. p. 61. Notes: 1) Quoted Longfellow from poem, “The Builders,” 2) Paul mentions people as God’s building in the subtitle’s biblical reference and 1 Corinthians 3:9–17, 3) Ideals; essay, “The Christ of the Sea.”

Correspondence. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Office Economist_. Vol. 11 No. 10. Jamestown, NY: Art Metal Construction Company, Dec 1929. p. 12. Note: Poem, “The Heart of a Child is a Scroll.”

Creating a Demand. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Dodge Idea_. Vol. 35 No. 9. Mishawaka, IN: Kenyon W. Mix, Sep 1919. pp. 929, 941. Note: Byline had misspelling, “Clarenc E. Flynn.”

The Crowded Inn. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Miami Daily Metropolis_. Vol. 20 No. 9. Miami: Metropolis Publishing Co., Dec 23, 1916. p. 6. Notes: 1) Inconsistent capitalization of “his/him,” as it refers to Jesus Christ, has been made more consistent, 2) Persecution as counterproductive against Christianity and Christians (Acts 5:38–42), 3) The sentence “He never will flee persecution” was followed by the sentence fragment “The brightest intellect, and the most earnest seekers after the truth of His dominion.” The fragment seems erroneous and was removed for readability, 4) “Let us find whether the doors of the throne rooms of our own hearts are open;” poems: “Heart Gates,” “The King,” and “No Room in the Inn.”

Determinants. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Special Crops_. Vol. 20 No. 232. Skaneateles, NY: C. M. Goodspeed, Dec 1921. p. 309. Note: Poems: “Have You Tried?,” “Iron,” and “A Trouble Making World.”

Do It Right. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Boys’ World_. Vol. 16 No. 21. Elgin, IL: David C. Cook Publishing Company, May 26, 1917. p. 5. Note: Poems: “Almost,” “Doing It Well,” “The Engineer,” and “The Section Foreman.”

Dollars Versus Sense. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn, Princeton, IN. Source: _The School News and Practical Educator_. Vol. 34 No. 9. Taylorville, IL: Parker Publishing Company, May 1921. pp. 572–75. Notes: 1) Poem, “I Want,” 2) “Where wealth accumulates, and men decay;” from Oliver Goldsmith’s poem, “The Deserted Village” (1770).

Education and Production. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The School Arts Magazine_. Vol. 20 No. 6. Worcester, MA: The Davis Press, Inc., Feb 1921. pp. 332–34. Notes: 1) If “the notion that gentlemen do not labor with their hands” sounds haughty, consider the poem, “In Conference,” 2) “whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well;” poem, “Doing It Well,” 3) “perform...with a minimum of friction and waste;” essay, “The Yoke,” 4) “The life of society is co-operative;” poems: “Along the Road,” “Team-work.”

Efficient Spending. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _American Cookery_. Vol. 25 No. 7. Boston: Boston Cooking-School Magazine Company, Feb 1921. pp. 504–06. Note: “The poor we always have with us” (cf. Matthew 26:11).

Eulogy for Joseph E. Henley [excerpt]. Byline: Rev. Clarence E. Flynn, First Methodist Church, Bloomington [IN]. Source: _Indiana University Alumni Quarterly_. Vol. 11 No. 3. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Association of Alumni and Former Students, Jul 1924. p. 458. Note: Contrasting behavior and religious trappings: contributed essay to a symposium on “The Church and Young People.”

Eulogy for Sanford F. Teter [excerpt]. Byline: Dr. Clarence E. Flynn, pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, Bloomington [IN]. Source: _Indiana University Alumni Quarterly_. Vol. 15 No. 2. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Association of Alumni and Former Students, Apr 1928. pp. 255–56. Note: DePauw University conferred the Doctor of Divinity degree honorarily to Flynn.

Facing the Future. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _American Messenger_. Vol. 77 No. 3. New York: The American Tract Society, Mar 1919. p. 40. Notes: 1) Approaching truth by fair and honest habits of thought; essay, “The Laboratory Test,” 2) More adequate and satisfying interpretation of religion; essay, “Newer Conceptions of Religion,” 3) Ovid writing about humanity’s backward movement (_Metamorphoses_), 4) Tennyson writing about humanity moving forward to a divine event (_In Memoriam A.H.H._), 5) “the seer of Patmos” (cf. Revelation 1:9–11), 6) “new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1).

The Fountain of Youth. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _American Messenger_. Vol. 75 No. 11. New York: The American Tract Society, Nov 1917. p. 164. Notes: 1) “One is as old as the spirit within him;” poem, “The Age of a Heart,” 2) Episode involving Hezekiah (2 Kings 20).

Four Addresses to Young People. Byline: Rev. Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Expositor_. Mar 1929. pp. 669–71. Notes: 1) “It is the great compulsion;” essay, “The Great Compulsion,” 2) The presence of “not” in “The person who does not find it in his soul” seems inconsistent with the message, 3) “world builder for God;” poems: “The Builder v1924,” “The Builders,” 4) Call of Isaiah in temple (Isaiah 6), 5) Jesus reads from Isaiah (Luke 4:16–21), 6) John’s vision (Book of Revelation), 7) “Moses said he was not eloquent;” poem, “I am not eloquent,” 8) “mistake for a minister to forsake the altar to serve tables” (Acts 6:2–4).

Free Verse. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Editor_. Vol. 54 No. 5. Highland Falls, NY: Jun 25, 1921. pp. 65–66. Notes: 1) Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55), 2) Nunc Dimittis of Simeon (Luke 2:29–32).

The Great Compulsion. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Expositor_. Cleveland: F. M. Barton Company, Oct 1928. p. 33. Notes: 1) Moses seeing his people’s burdens (Exodus 2:11), 2) John eats a book (Revelation 10:9), 3) Jesus wept for Jerusalem (Luke 19:41), 4) Usage of _bondslave_ (e.g., Colossians 4:12).

The Great Teacher. Byline: Rev. Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Expositor_. Vol. 26 No. 9. Cleveland: F. M. Barton and Co., Jun 1925. pp. 1276–77. Note: Jesus taught with authority and not as the scribes (Matthew 7:28–29).

Has the Day of Great Preachers Passed. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn, Princeton, IN. Source: _The Homiletic Review_. Vol. 81 No. 2. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, Feb 1921. pp.117–19. Notes: 1) “competing against God for...thought and attention;” essay, “The Crowded Inn,” 2) Moses met God on the mountain (Exodus 3:1–14), 3) Elkanah, Hannah, and son, Samuel (1 Samuel), 4) Partnership of Moses and Aaron (Exodus 4:10–17).

The Heart Interest in Preaching. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn, Princeton, IN. Source: _The Expositor_. Vol. 24 No. 2. Cleveland: Nov 1922. p. 192. Note: Poem, “Patchwork.”

The Holy Spirit and Social Viewpoint. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _Northwestern Christian Advocate_. Vol. 70 No. 27. Chicago: The Methodist Book Concern, Jun 21, 1922. pp. 684–85. Note: Day of Pentecost (Acts 2).

The Home Budget. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _American Cookery_. Vol. 25 No. 4. Boston: Boston Cooking-School Magazine Company, Nov 1920. pp. 285–87.

The International Religion. Byline: Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Congregationalist_. Vol. 108 No. 52. Boston: The Pilgrim Press, Dec 27, 1923. p. 884. Notes: 1) Liberty was taken in completing illegible text in the source’s right-hand margin, 2) If the reader does not find the text in Revelation 9 of their bible translation, try Revelation 7:4–9, 3) “King of kings and Lord of lords” (e.g., Revelation 19:16, 1 Timothy 6:15), 4) Jesus in people’s hearts; poems: “Finding God,” “The King,” and “No Room in the Inn.”

Is It Nothing to You. Byline: Rev. Clarence E. Flynn. Source: _The Expositor_. Aug 1929. p. 1261.