The Washington herald., 1916-11-28
Detachment IN Living
ny JOHN ID. harry,


she IL very wonderful" wrote an
American woman friend of a great per-
sonage she had been visiting in Europe.
humanitarian of worldwide fame. but
she Ii detached. Though I have had
many intimate talks with her and though
we get on very well. I don't seem to be
able to get near her. I should think that
the trouble was due to myself, possibly
to her imperfect use of the language, IL
l had not heard others here say the
same thing about her. They all apprecI-
ate and love her; but they regard her
or. rather. she. quite unconsciously,
makes them regard her, as one who does
not belong to the great stream of hu-
manity. With my temperament I can't
help FEELING sorry. think would rather
be dead than be like her in this respect.
ana YET Tor some reason that I can't
explain, admire her all the more for her
detachment and I feel that II is a part
OF her greatness. 1t keeps her from
thinking about the silly little things as
the rest OF us do. but it also keeps her
from those intimate relations that save
US from perishing from loneliness and
that are to me the breath of life
MOST or US know people of this kind
whether our paths lead us among the
great ones of the earth or among
those never considered great. They
are almost certain to be interesting
Though their detachment may cause
them to lose something valuable in
Ite' IT also brings them gain which
may or may not be complete COM
pensation. imagine that the Saints
OF old had 1t. The world they lived
In was to them transient and unim-
portant. Why should they let them
selves be Involved in its complex and
dtstracting affairs when 1t was their
business to think OF higher things.
Similarly. many of the Saints of to-
day must feel an Indifference to the
according to their view. distract peo-
pie from real living.
DO We have Saints today" 1 can
hear some one asking. imagine that
they are produced now as abundantly
as they ever were. We either call
them by other names or we don't call
them by any names, perhaps through
our failure to recognize their quail
tiles. And yet, way down deep, their
qualities would probably be allied
with those Of Peter and Paul, perhaps
associated with human weaknesses
that would help to make the resem-
blance stronger.
In all those characters We should
probably discover something OF the
detachment associated with unworldli-
ness. with conceptions of living higher
and finer and essentially more practi-
cal than those generally accepted to-
day.
II never lose the feeling that the
world 1 see is more or less unreal"
says a friend who regards this life
as a preparation for other existence.
So. for him, 1t is natural that the in
cidents Of living should not have the
supreme Importance that most OF US
give them and that explains why. for
SO much OF the time. we are involved
In perplexities and disturbances. He
regards the senses as illusory guides.
always more or less deceptive. often
as utterly unreliable and mischief
making. How do We know that we
are not living in a dream-world?" he
says. What is magnificent in our
eyes may be petty or it may not really
exist at all. If we could look into
| the consciousness of ants we might
find that. to one another. they were
huge animals and felt as important
| as gods"
To turn a questioning eye on what
we carelessly regard as the realities
of life. to refuse to accept without
examination the generally accepted
values, to recognize our limitations,
to weight consideration assured to be
weighty or without weight, is at once
to face astonishing results and to ap-
preciate something OF the reward that
goes with detachment. Every now
and then It is we'll to seek to detach
ourselves. Relief is bound to be felt
from many Of our trials. Things will
quietly shape themselves into new re-
lations. There will be again the salu-
tary discovery that each of US ought
to keep making of the essential un-
reality in mere events and the power
each of US has to exercise a control
over their character.