With so many new residents moving into our area, quite a few have contacted me requesting more information about the Pennsylvania Historical Marker located in
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The PA State Historical Marker, erected by the PA Histor-
ical and Museum Commission in 1991 at 772 Main St. in
Pennsburg, honors Rev. Dr. Frank N. D. Buchman who
was born there.
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the 700 block of Main Street in Pennsburg.
I have written many times about the Rev. Dr. Frank N. D. Buchman, and there is still much more to share. Born at that location on Main Street in Pennsburg, and a graduate of the Perkiomen Seminary School in Pennsburg, Buchman went on to become an ordained Lutheran minister and worldwide luminary.
Among his greatest achievements was forming the Moral Re-Armament movement (MRA). It is a worldwide idealism that has no religious, racial, or nationality boundaries and is based on four basic principles: 1) Absolute honesty; 2) Absolute purity; 3) Absolute unselfishness; and 4) Absolute love among men and nations.
He was heralded all over the world for his efforts in promoting peace among nations and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize eight times.
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Rev. Dr. Frank N. D. Buchman 1878 – 1961
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Buchman never wrote any books, but there were many books written about him. One thing Buchman did write was moving speeches. It was reported that the powerful charisma of this preacher from Pennsylvania frightened some but was welcomed by others. His messages were delivered all over the world in times of world war and in periods of reconciliation. During peace and conflict. His words were simple yet bold. Many of his beliefs would be welcomed in the volatile world we live in today.
Here is a small sample from a collection of his speeches:
The international problems of today are, at bottom, personal problems of selfishness and fear. - Geneva, 1932;
Everybody wants to see the other fellow changed. Every nation wants to see the other nation changed. But everybody is waiting for the other fellow to begin. - Denmark, 1936;
The crisis is fundamentally a moral one. The nations must re-arm morally. Moral recovery is essentially the forerunner of economic recovery. Imagine a rising tide of absolute honesty and absolute unselfishness sweeping across every country. What would be the effect? What about taxes? Debts? Savings? A wave of absolute unselfishness throughout the nations would be the end of war. - London, 1938;
Criticism is uncomfortable. I know that. I know what it means. But if you are a real revolutionary, you always maintain perspective, no matter what people say about you. No matter what stones come, you go straight ahead. Stones of criticism are so bracing. They just set you up for the day. Sweden, 1938;
Suppose everybody cared enough, everybody shared enough, wouldn't everybody have enough? There is enough in the world for everyone's need, but not for everyone's greed. - London, 1938;
There is an answer to crises and it must be made known. Crisis shows our failure. Before crises end in catastrophe, have we the courage to face its real cause? We ourselves are the cause. It is the way every nation and every one of us has been living that has brought us where we are. - Boston, 1939;
Trials and tribulations are the furnace which forges prophets. - From a wartime Christmas message, 1940;
Some of us have been so busy with our own affairs that we have forgotten to look after the nation. - Mackinac Island, 1943;
Division is the mark of our age. Division in the heart. Division in the home. Division in industry. Division in the nation. Division between nations. Union is our instant need. - Los Angeles, 1948;
We have all lived too long in an atmosphere of imagining that security, prosperity, comfort, and culture are natural to man. We forgot the eternal struggle between evil and good, victory in which brings the blessings of security and prosperity. But defeat in this struggle, and even ignorance of it, brings poverty, hunger, slavery, and death. – California, 1948;
A nation at peace within itself will bring peace to the World. - New Delhi, 1953;
We talk of peace and unity, but forget that no man who harbors ill will can solve the hates of nations. - London, 1953;
There is a wrong way and a right way for statesmanship. MRA has conclusively demonstrated in some of the most critical national and international deadlocks that when the fear, hate, and greed in man is changed, solutions are rapidly achieved. This is the panorama before us. So simple that many miss it, so fundamental we cannot do without it. - Mackinac Island, June 1959;
Men must choose to be governed by God, or they condemn themselves to be ruled by tyrants. There is no neutrality in the battle between good and evil. - From Buchman's last speech, 1961;
As you browse through the words of Dr. Buchman remember that some of them were quoted nearly a century ago, then think about how they hold true today.
Visit explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-2DA to learn more about the Historical Marker for Rev. Dr. Frank Nathan Daniel Buchman. To learn more about the Pennsburg native just search his name on the internet. You'll find scores of references because there was so much written about him and there is so much to learn about him.