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: