Download PDF June 1, 1996

 

LAYING DOWN THE PEN

Editorial by Ariel A. Roth

Geoscience Research Institute

In the old days, when one finished a writing task it was appropriate to use the climactic cliché: "Laying down the pen." That was the end. The modern equivalent would be: Turning off the computer. However that does not seem as final to me. We turn off our computers every time we have to reboot to get out of a malfunction. Clichés aside, this is the last issue of Origins that I will be editing. Producing Origins has been stimulating, satisfying, and challenging. It is a joy to see every issue published. However, I have carried this responsibility for 23 years, and the time has come for a change. It is with a mixture of regrets, relief, and anticipation that I turn to other activities.

Origins could not exist without the help of many. I am most grateful to the authors who have provided a high quality of writing that which has permitted the journal to gain the degree of respectability which it has. These authors have not only produced original scholarly material, but they have been very patient with suggested changes as manuscripts were processed towards publication. Their dedication has facilitated the sometimes painful surgery suggested by reviewers and editors. The reviewers themselves, who are the unsung heroes of the editorial process, have been invaluable, and I want to thank them for their long hours of unselfish work. They have been the silent guardians of quality.

A few individuals have made very special contributions to Origins. I especially wish to thank Bob Brown and Leonard Brand for their careful criticism of practically everything that was published. Kathy Ching has put every issue together into a rational whole, and Jim Gibson has prepared most of the scientific-literature reviews in the recent years of publication. All of these and many others have my profound gratitude. I also wish to thank the readers, particularly for their feedback, much of it more generous than we deserve.

I well remember writing the first editorial for Origins. It was in 1973 on a flight to Hawaii as I was headed for Enewetak Atoll to continue my research on coral reefs. I mused about how to start a new journal, its success or failure, and especially its purpose. In that editorial I expressed my hope that Origins would help give a correct view of the Creator by the study of both His creation and His revelation. Many of the questions that have been discussed in Origins could have been purely academic, but their implications were not. This is where all those who have helped with the journal have made a contribution far and above normal journalistic activity. They have contributed towards a correct image of the nature of the Creator and His activities. In this age of relativism, agnosticism, skepticism, and pluralism, such information is much needed. As I bid you farewell, I wish to thank all of you for your special contribution, and I want to encourage you to continue your highly meaningful activities of witnessing for the truth about our Creator. May God bless each of you.