15th April

Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory because of your love and faithfulness. Psalm 115, 1

The defeat of mechanization

This is the title of an article in the French magazine "Science and Life" of February 1998. This article comments the dramatic shipwreck of the famous Titanic:

Actually, the blind faith in the benefits of mechanization sank with this ultramodern liner in 1912. At that time the first cars, radio, aeroplanes appeared. Man sincerely believed that the scientific progress would have totally eliminated the antique risks of shipwreck at sea. The Titanic was the biggest, most powerful, nicest and surest liner of the world. In the eyes of the public it had been conceived by engineers who had anticipated and calculated everything. They thought that nothing could happen to it. But on it's first journey it sank like a stone with more than 1500 passengers and crew on board after striking an iceberg. The modern technique had totally failed. This is why this shipwreck is such a psychological repercussion."

The admiration of works by which man surpasses himself contributes to give himself a high opinion of his capacities. At the same time this greatness masks the deepest destitution of morality. Everything which man can invent and build with his extraordinary capacities which are given to him is without power when comparing with God's glory.