The very last and most important thing that must be said on the subject of world consciousness is that man himself is the key to the vision—is that man is the fullest expression of God and that man can conquer nature and build nations, republics and a world democracy. The immanence of God in man is the secret of sanity and balance in the study of this question and also the power that is going to make the vision a reality.
And I have purposely refrained from saying anything about the superb position that man holds in this mighty work in order that you might feel the grandeur of the world vision through the power of the seas; might feel the awful majesty of the vision, its divine glory—in order that people might be arrested and caught up in its mighty enthusiasm—before discovering that the secret of bringing it to pass is the wholesome secret of a simple human life. O wonder of wonders, the simple key that balances our thought and puts our feet on the earth in this hour of tremendous vision is in man himself; is right here in our own lives—is in the engineer, the educator, the missionary, the preacher, the financier, all of whom can rise superior to nature and gain dominion over the earth. Let me express what I mean in the following on "Balboa" who is so intimately associated historically with the Panama canal and with the Pacific ocean, as its discoverer:
BALBOA
Can a man discover a sea?
Can a human eye that's sealed by a night and sun-dazed by day discover a sea?
Discover, O discover a far-going, a far-coming endless, sky-meeting, infinitely finite sea?
Could a Balboa discover a sea?
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Yes—
A dew-drop can orb a sun.
A telescope can enfold the stars of a sky.
A pure heart can incarnate God.
And an eye opened by fate, visioned by providence, looking out from a Panama peak can discover an endless sea!
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And great explorer—could you arise and speak—
How did you feel when you discovered a sea?
Did you feel like a babe first opening its eyes from marge to marge on heaven's blue skys?
Did you feel like a mariner sailing the ship of the Earth out through the gates of the dawn?
Did you feel like a soul just escaping from its clay out into the joy of the freedom of space into a home built from the light of the suns?
Looking, looking, looking far outward, how did you feel when you first saw the sea?
Descending, walking towards the shores, approaching the waters; how did you feel when, with the ineffable shock of a glorious discovery, you first touched the sea?
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