The Washington herald., 1915-04-06

y l opened my eyes in a:
20 constituent. 1t was as if
had seen fash of light.
also felt uneasy
Is there any way of escape from the prison o
self? There is only one way, the wise declare
On this way they agree. the wise men of all times
. And their conclusion is so simple it seems as if
could not possibly be true. But so many tru
things are simple, after you've found them out!
i And yet, after repeated lessons are Away
looking for complicated meanings in life for com
pick solutions. The wise men say the only escape
from the prison of self is by the humiliation O
SELF Losing alone is finding
/ Till we lose ourselves in our consideration fo
other human beings, we cannot free ourselvc.
from ourselves.
"In whose service there is perfect freedom" i:
a fine saying We all know that in serving our,
selves alone there is not perfect freedom That is
perfect slavery. There is imprisonment with the
clasping of the bars.
&c. after all, there is key to the cell. Some
people call it Service. Others call it Self-Abnega-
ton. Still others call it Love.
But no matter what the name may be- Preju-
dice strives to lurk behind it. Often the key is
false key. And the people using it wonder why
it doesn't open to them the door to happiness.
When you hold the key in your hand and refuse
to let yourself out, the situation is sad But sad
der far is the situation when you hold the key to
the prison of your brother and refuse to let him
out.
See the judge sitting on the bench How i'm
pressive he is III his fine Clothes his face and head
nobly formed, his whole being seeming to radiate
intelligence, eharaetsr, power He is light in
the community. Where he walks there is
darkness. Society has made him what he is. He
is rewarding society. Again and again he has paid
back what society has given.
And the poor wretch in the dock. He is stunt
ed and ugly and forlorn. He has committed a
crime. His whole being seems to radiate crimi-
nalty. He looks the thing he is accused of being.
People frown and glance away
And yet society has made the wretch what he
is. exactly society has made the judge what
he is. And not satisfied with making him the
what he is, exactly as society is rewarding the
judge for being what he is
Society makes. Then society rewards and pun
ishes her handiwork.
Society might have made the criminal the
judge Society might have made the judge the
criminal
In one case there is profit, all profit. and in the
other there is loss, all loss.
How can it seem to the eye of divine justice?
Perhaps it would be more pertinent to ask. how
should it seem to the eye of the divine justice
in man.
Am my brothers keeper Is it my .duty to
keep my brother in his cell? Or shall l throw
open the door of the cell so that my brother
may roam the fields and feel his body and soul
expand under the wide sky and lift his voice to
God in thankfulness and praise?
IF that prisoner in the dock physically
SICK instead of being morally sick, he is, how
quickly he would be rushed to hospital! For
it is plain that his is extreme Even the
Judge, reserved as he is and impartial, seems
shocked |
Yes. it is plain that disease has eaten into
The mans soul But one feels pity. No one
holds out a hand to help. All those about him,
good people all, they long to see him sent among
other morally diseased and weak people. He may
infect those others He may make them worse
han they are. And they. too, may contribute to
lis moral decay. Diseased he will return to the
society that infected him. far more diseased than
when he left society
What is the cause of such hideous soul sick
less? Don't you know?
Look at the history of the prisoners through
,ut the land. In one particular, with exceptions 4
10 few they need not be considered, their his
ores identical. They poor.
And we with our blessings. we do nothing
,etter for him than we have done' Can we never
Freak from own cells, the cells of prejudice
nd help him? Must keep him a prisoner for
he simple reason that content to remain
rIsonerS ourselves!