On Solidarity

That we are all members of one body, branches of one vine, is a matter of faith and of feeling; but with the first use of the weapon of higher thought the paradox of the one the many is capable of so clear and simple a solution that the sublime idea of human solidarity is brought down from the heaven of the mystic to the earth of everyday life. To our ordinary space-thought, men are isolated, distinct, each and "infinitely repellent particle," but we conceive of space too narrowly. The broader view admits the idea that men are related by reason of a superior union, that is but an affair of limited consciousness. Applying this concept to conduct, we come to discern a literal truth in the word of the Master, "He who hath done it unto the least of these my children, hath done it unto me," and "Where two or three are gathered together in my name". If we conceive of each individual as a "slice" or cross section of a higher being, each fragment isolated by an inhibition of consciousness which it is moment by moment engaged in transcending, the sacrifice of the Logos takes on a new meaning. This disseverance into millions of human beings is that each may realize God in himself. Conceiving of humanity as God's broken body, we are driven to make peace among its members, and by realization we become the Children of God.