“Oh, God, Our Father, we, Thy lost children,
return to Thee, the Giver of Life. We bring our
follies and our greeds, and cast them at Thy feet.
We do not like the life we have lived. We wish
to be those things which for long ages we have dreamed
in vain. Wilt Thou show the way?”
His hands sank to his sides, and he raised his head.
“Such is the prayer. What is the answer?
It has been made known: Ask, and it shall be
given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall
be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh
receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him
that knocketh it shall be opened.—These
are ancient words, by many forgotten. What do
they mean? They mean that we are children of
our Father, and not slaves of earthly masters.
Would a man make a slave of his own child? And
shall man be more righteous than his Creator?
“My brothers: You are hungry, and in need,
and your children cry for bread; do I bid you feed
them upon words? Not so; but the life of men
is made by the will of men, and that which exists in
steel and stone existed first in thought. If
your thought is mean and base, your world is a place
of torment; if your thought is true and generous,
your world is free.
“There was once a man who owned much land, and
upon it he built great factories, and many thousand
men toiled for him, and he grew fat upon the product
of their labor, and his heart was high. And it
came to pass that his workers rebelled; and he hired
others, and they shot down the workers, so that the
rest returned to their labor. And the master
said: The world is mine, and none can oppose
me. But one day there arose among the workers
a man who laughed. And his laughter spread, until
all the thousands were laughing; they said, We are
laughing at the thought that we should work and you
take the fruit of our labor. He ordered his troops
to shoot them, but his troops were also laughing,
and he could not withstand the laughter of so many
men; he laughed also, and said, let us end this foolish
thing.
“Is there a man among you who can say, I am
worthy of freedom? That man shall save the world.
And I say to you: Make ready your hearts for
brotherhood; for the hour draws near, and it is a shameful
thing when man is not worthy of his destiny.
A man may serve with his body, and yet be free, but
he that is a slave in his soul admires the symbols
of mastery, and lusts after its fruits.
“What are the fruits of mastery? They are
pride and pomp, they are luxury and wantoness and
the shows of power. And who is there among you
that can say to himself, these things have no roots
in my heart? That man is great, and the deliverance
of the world is the act of his will.”
The speaker paused, and turned; his gaze swept the
platform, and those seated on it. Said he:
“You are the representatives of organized labor.
I do not know your organization, therefore I ask:
For what are you united? Is it to follow in the
footsteps of your masters, and bind others as they
have bound you?”
