The Petal paper. [volume] (Petal, Miss.) 1953-19??, 1960-03-10
PAGE THREE

| their unsatisfied need and their
envy in drunkenness. But soon
they will drink blood instead Of
wine, they are being led on to it.
/ ask you is such a man free? T
knew one champion of freedom
who told me himself that, when
he was deprived of tobacco in
prison, he was so wretched at the
privation that he almost went
and betrayed his cause for the
sake of getting tobacco again!
And such man says, i am fight
ing for the cause of humanity
''How can such one fight,
what is he fit for? He is capable
perhaps Of some action quickly
over, but he cannot hold out
long. And it's no wonder that in
stead of gaining freedom they
have sunk into slavery, and in
stead of serving the cause of
brotherly love and the union of
humanity, have fallen, on the
contrary, into dissension and iso-
lation And therefore the idea of
the service of humanity, of bro
therly love and the solidarity of
mankind, is more and more dy-
ing out in the world, and indeed
this idea is sometimes treated
with decision. For how can a
man shake off his habits, what
can become of him if he is in
such bondage to the habit of
satisfying the innumerable de-
sires he has created for himself?
He is isolated, and what concern
has he with the rest of human
ity? They have succeeded in ac-
cumulating a greater mass of OBJ
jects, but the joy in the world
has grown less.
''The monastic way is very diff
ferent. Obedience, fasting and
prayer are laughed at, yet only
through them lies the way to
real, true freedom. l cut off my
superfluous and unnecessary de-
sires, I subdue my proud and
wanton will and chastise it with
obedience, and with Gods help
/ attain freedom of spirit and
with it spiritual joy. Which is
most capable of conceiving a
great idea and serving it - the
rich man in his isolation or the
man who has freed himself from
the tyranny of material things
and habits? -.
81 dream of seeing, and seem
to see clearly already, our future.
1t will come to pass, that even
the most corrupt of our rich will
end by being ashamed of his
riches before the poor, seeing his
humility, will understand and
give way before him, will respond
joyfully and kindly to his honor
able shame. Believe me that it
will end in that; things are NOV
ing to that. Equality is to be
found only in the spiritual dig
nifty of man. If we were brothers,
there would be fraternity, but
before that, they will never agree
about the division of wealth. (If)
we preserve the image of Christ
;. +. it will shine forth like a pre-
cious diamond to the whole
world i.
''Why should not my servant
be like my own kindred, so that
l may take him into my family
and rejoice in doing so? Even
now this can be done, but it will
lead to the grand unity of men
in the future, when a man will
not seek servants for himself, or
desire to turn his fellow creatures
into servants as he does now, but
on the contrary, will long with
his whole heart to be the servant
of all, as the Gospel teaches.
''And can it be a dream. that
in the end man will find his joy
only in deeds of light and mercy,
and not in cruel pleasures as
now, in gluttony, fornication, as
tentation, boasting and envious
rivalry of one with the other?
Continued on Page Four)