Page:OptimismBlood.djvu/67

This page needs to be proofread.

SECTION XII.

SOCIAL RELATIONS.

It may occur to the reader that this is thus far a rude and selfish philosophy. What! say you, is God as well pleased that a man should lie, swear, steal, and do all unholy things, as that he should be virtuous, prayerful and benevolent? Yea, verily—else is God of all beings the most wretched, for blows and curses outnumber prayers and alms. "Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, and the Lord commanded it not?"—The exalted soul is pleased at cursing and at blessing by times; and nothing but his own inter- est and the interest of those in whom he is concerned (who comprise the whole human race) shall induce him to meddle in the matter.

When we set about to take care of ourselves, we find that God has bound up our interest more or less with the interests of all other men. It is apparently an idle speculation whether man is capable of disinterested benevolence, for God has put it out of man's power to exercise it. We cannot if we would sacrifice for the good of others without reaping a reward in the sense of our magnanimity,—nor can we injure another without injury to ourselves proportionate to our own estimate of the injury conferred. Then why need we glorify ourselves with the conjecture that we should be equally benevolent though it were our eternal injury and discredit?

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.