Greater Vision

In his book A Savior for All Seasons, William Barker relates the story of a bishop from the East Coast who many years ago paid a visit to a small, Midwestern religious college. He stayed at the home of the college president who also served as professor of physics and chemistry. After dinner, the bishop declared that the millennium couldn’t be far off because just about everything about nature had been discovered and all inventions conceived.

The young college president politely disagreed and said he felt there would be many more discoveries. When the angered bishop challenged the president to name just one such invention, the president replied he was certain that within fifty years men would be able to fly.

Nonsense!” sputtered the outraged bishop. “Only angels are intended to fly.”

The bishop’s name was Wright. His own sons would prove to have greater vision than their father. Their names: Orville and Wilbur.