THIS I BELIEVE-CONTEMPORA.
RIES
SOLITARINESS is the core of every man. And what he believes lies at
the core. When overcome by emotion this inner loneliness vibrates,
and its secrets can be discharged by love, by prayer, by meditation.
But no one can stand deliberately before a microphone and make
that intimate revelation from which emerges the understanding
peace that surpasseth knowledge.
I can, however, try to give you the atmosphere in which my
deeper self dwells. When I pause for reflection, I am aware of bi-
~olar tensions. All the different aspects of me are arrayed on one
SIde and are drawn to one magnetic field. Pulling at the other end
are all the forces in the universe that are not part of nie. And yet
I feel not merely this separateness, but a strong togetherness be-
tween me and everything else that is.
I, wish I could say that this view of my relationship to the uni-
verse had made me humble. Humility is the noblest fruit of intro-
spection. It establishes defenses against pride-that sin which the
orthodox church justly stamps as the foundation of all evil. But
when I become concerned about the miserable creature that I am
I do not draw closer to God, or to the magnificence of His creation:
I am only inflating my own importance in my own eyes.
Yet self-assessment is not self-defeating. Through intimate
analysis, man recognizes more clearly that he is weak, and that he
lives without protective boundaries, always dimly apprehensive of
the impenetrable beyond. If man is to comprehend this further
territory he must summon as his guide not reason, but mystic in-
sight. And there is no guarantee that a reliable guide will come
when called. Not having had any mystic experience myself, I for-
merly thought I could overleap the limitations of my knowledge,
my reason, and my discernment by developing fortitude. I sup-
posed that by inhibiting my desires and training my will, I could
158
become immune to shock. But self-knowledge and self-discipline
did not yield me a Stoic virtue and equanimity.
But experience prevents me from assuming that by mere volition,
practice, and restraint, without grace, man can become his own
commander. The fickleness of his human disposition stands prey
not only to outside disasters, but also to internal pressures that he
cannot distribute according to advance order. Nay, the order itself
may produce not obedience, but revolution.
Have I then no authoritative answer to the universe's ultimate
question? I have none. Indeed, I take it as inherent in the human
dilemma that no mortal can have an answer that will fully and per-
manently allay doubt. And yet I dare to feel confident that to be
even partially satisfactory, an answer must bear the seal of religious
faith.
And what do I mean by religious faith? Surely more than a
creed, a commandment, a metaphysical schenie. It is that inner
compulsion persuading us that we are implicated in an enveloping
mystery. It is that search for meaning, which though it never
reaches its' goal, gives life a structural unity. It is that constant
nourishment of our own personal and community roots as the emo-
tional source of spiritual courage. It is that inexpressible yearning
toward the fulfillment of the undiscoverable purpose of the uni·
verse,-a purpose which when we are tuned to our most excruci-
atingly sensitive pitch, we firmly believe is unfolding before, and, in
small part, through each of us.
'4<j CHARLES EDWARD WYZANSKI, JR. preme Court onhe U.S. From 1937
is District Judge for Massachusetts. to 1941 he reverted to private prac-
Educated at Exeter and the Harvard tice; but, after serving in Washington
Law School, he served as clerk to on the National Defense Mediation
both Judge A. N. Hand and Judge Board, he was appointed .District
L~med Hand, who, he says, gave him Judge by President Roosevelt.
his professional canons, intellectual Judge Wyzanski makes annual trips
standards, and criteria of what makes to Europe on behalf of ILO. In 1943,
a useful citizen. In 1933 F.D.R. ap- as he phrases it, "I had the incredible
pointed him a Solicitor of Labor for luck to marry the happiest, most un-
Sec:e.tary Frances Perkins. In 1935 spoiled and most lovable girl I have
SolICItor General Reed took him on ever met. Living with her makes the
his staff for arguments before the Su" whole year Spring."