Material possessions were held in common. There was no fierce talk of
Thine and Mine. His ancient law counseled poverty to the spirit, lest
the gates of Paradise should grow narrow before it like the eye of a
needle. I believe the fading hold the heavens have over the world is
due to the neglect of the economic basis of spiritual life. What
profound spiritual life can there be when the social order almost forces
men to battle with each other for the means of existence? I know well
that no political mechanics, nothing which is an economic device only,
will of themselves be able to affect the transfiguration of society and
bring it under the dominion of the spirit. For that, a far higher
quality of thought and action than is here indicated is necessary. The
economist can provide the daily bread, but that bread of the coming day
which Christ wished his followers to aspire to must come otherwise.
That should be the labor of the poets, artists, musicians, and of the
heroic and aristocratic characters who provide by their life an image to
which life can be modeled.
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