Part 6 (1/2)
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. For the ethics of true religion is to be sifted from the chaff of superst.i.tion, and righteousness is to cover the whole earth as the waters cover the seas.
Blessed are the merciful nations. For they shall obtain mercy in return from other nations, and learn that impulsive retaliation is too costly and that patient and honorable conciliation makes for world peace and national prosperity.
Blessed are the peacemakers. For now that the nations have entered through the united seas into a neighborhood; they--by encouraging disarmament and teaching the gospel of contact as well as good will--will hasten the day when the nations can live together without war in the spirit of council and peace.
Blessed is he who is persecuted by people whose minds are filled with race prejudice, national pride and selfishness; for he has discovered the secret of seeing good in all nationalities, of detecting the soul behind the color, and shall be honored by humanity as a pioneer of international brotherhood.
Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for so persecuted they Him who said ”Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven and in the councils of the world.
Blessed are the pure in heart. For they shall see G.o.d as transcendant and immanent in the resurrected Christ. They shall find His spirit in all life and behold His glory wherever they journey throughout the wide world.
Blessed is this n.o.ble brotherhood of manly souls. For ye are not only the salt of the school, the city, the state and nation; but also of the earth. Yours is not the light of bigoted patriotism. But ye are the light of the world. And your city placed upon a hill cannot be hid.
Blessed are these pathfinders who do not fear the seas, for they have discovered that the very waters are resolutely moving toward freedom; and they are being led forward by a pillar of light into the promised land of the essentially unified races.
THE WORLD'S NEIGHBORHOOD
Remember that a new world neighborhood has been created, bringing important points on the globe into closer proximity by one-half to two-thirds of the former distance, through the short route of the Panama Ca.n.a.l.
Therefore, a new commandment is given to each nation, namely, ”to love thy neighbor as thyself,” by entering by thought and co-operation into such policies as will make for the best interest of the entire new world neighborhood.
Do not think that other nations are unapproachable. But remember that North and South America, with all Europe, ”are more closely related in point of time and common interests than were the original Thirteen States when the necessities of commerce forced them to form the compact of the Union; that the two geographical extremes of the colonies were as far separated as Berlin and the Barbary States or as London and the Black Sea.”
Do not think that the short route through the ca.n.a.l is merely a path for commerce's s.h.i.+ps, or only a highway for navies or state dignitaries; but remember also that it is a short route to the Hague and international congresses.
And do not fail to recall that brave men opened up this international highway--not through forests or smoking prairies, but through mountains, swamps, rocks and hills--in order to hasten the day of essential world democracy.
So think clearly enough and you will surely see that the completion of the Panama Ca.n.a.l is virtually the discovery of a basis of essential world unity. He who walks by land or sails by sea can now read the will of G.o.d.
With increasing numbers we are now arriving at the day that Whitman speaks of in the following words:
”The main shapes arise!
Shapes of democracy total, result of centuries Shapes ever projecting other shapes, Shapes of turbulent manly cities, Shapes of the friends and home-givers of the whole earth, Shapes bracing the earth and braced by the whole earth.”