"Now you are talking, Peter! But get on with it, Peter! Don't just talk! Rescue your fellow citizens from the sewer! Don't think for one minute that government policies can turn the trend around and ennoble society," said Steve. "That leadership has to come from the pioneers of society, and from their heart and soul. The historic Golden Renaissance hadn't been brought to life as a policy of government, Peter. It began with people discovering the truth about their humanity. When society begins to cherish the spiritual qualities that make us all human, that give us our strength, of which love is a vital element, the Renaissance that corresponds with that, simply happens. I don't think we are anywhere near of that happening now. We need to act decisively to get us there. Society should be acting like the Samaritan, upholding the Principle of the Universal Brotherhood of All Mankind. But that's not happening. It isn't even on the horizon, much less on the agenda. I bet, Peter, America is treating LaRouche like a dog, throwing him a few scraps, barely enough to survive on. That's deemed a noble gesture in the mental vocabulary of the sewer rats, which society loves to be. They support him just enough to keep him alive, but not enough for him to be effective in rescuing society from its self-imposed trap. The rats don't want to be rescued. It's simpler to live like a rat than to live like a human being. As a rat, you don't have to take responsibility for anything. You just swim with the sewer. But this hell will 'freeze over' and everyone in it, Pete, long before the Ice Age begins anew."

      "What you described is a state of living without love," I interjected. "You have described the Hobbesian world, the Malthusian world, refined in 'aroma' into the world of Adam Smith. But that's not the real face of humanity, isn't it? That's the face of fascism. The face of humanity isn't the face of fascism. The humanity that I have come to know wears an infinitely brighter face. You, yourself are a witness to that and a part of it."

      Steve shrugged his shoulders. "What do you want me to say, Pete. Do you want me to tell you a lie that makes you feel better? The simple fact is that there is not enough of it. We are far short off the critical threshold on the global scene. The sewer has been globalized, not the Principle of Universal Love. Without love for our humanity, and I do mean universal love, not privatized love, there is no general welfare focus happening, and consequently no real economic activity. Without even the faintest recognition of the Principle of the Universal Brotherhood of All Mankind, a productive economy can't be unfolding, because an economy unfolds only from the substance of our humanity. In the shadow of the present void governments become fascist by nature. Fascism is a state of living without principle, without humanity, without love, with am empty heart and a life without a kiss. That is where we have come to. That's the sewer, Peter. Nevertheless, we do remain what we are, human beings. We will always be human beings, no matter what mask we wear, or what role we choose to play, and what rotten ideology we devour. We will always remain what we are, human beings, and if we are lucky we will wake up this fact soon. There have been times of Renaissance in the past, bright times of culture, science, love, and humanity, when this awakening happened in a big and universal way. Sure, every trend towards renaissance became smothered again by the darkness of empire, but the fact that those renaissance trends have happened is important even if they didn't last. These bright spots in history in which a bright humanism had flourished with a deep reaching healing for humanity are important Pete, because from them we can gain a glimpse of what a human being is and is still capable of achieving. That is how we learn that a human being is not by nature a sewer rat, but the Supreme Being in the world, the reflected image of God."

      "You are saying then that Christ Jesus constructed his parable correctly. The fourth-person addition that we have explored isn't fundamentally necessary in a renaissance world, in the normal world of mankind," I said to Steve. "Someone once told me that the way to extract 'error,' and that's the sewer of the world, is to pour into this dehumanized scene flood tides of love. The priest and the Levite represent the sewer, and the Samaritan represents the process of pouring in flood tides of love to enrich the human scene. Nothing more is needed. If today's society says, and that probably includes almost everyone, people say that the welfare of humanity isn't their business. Most people are saying that. In them we hear the priest and the Levite talking with new faces and wearing new gowns, but playing the same old game. How many holy men, for example, have retreated into passive prayer and meditation as they were seeking healing in their silent isolation from the world where they aim to find unity with their God? And in this passive meditation they convince themselves that their needs are small. They may have a tooth ache to repair. In this smallness they tell themselves that the welfare of humanity isn't their business. They say that the Samaritan principle of pouring into the human scene flood tides of love is irrelevant. And so they fail where they would succeed."

Next Page

|| - page index - || - chapter index - || - Exit - ||

Stories about  Love from novels by Rolf A. F. Witzsche