* * * * *
"DEAR FRIENDS:
"The Mayor was correct in calling what I am about to say to you 'a
talk,' for if any one has come here expecting a grand oration, with
flowery language, rounded periods, and finished diction, he will be
disappointed.
"Now, dear friends, I love you all, and that is why I call you dear
friends, and that is why I am here this afternoon to talk to you,
because I love you all. Yes, every one of you. I don't care what you
apparently are. Some of you may be greedy and grasping, and some may be
tyrannical and overbearing, or weak and negative; with no backbone or
grit or will; or you may be vain, selfish, ambitious, self-conceited,
carrying your head too high; or you may be one who lives to dance; loves
the whirl and excitement of pleasure; or you may be one who loves to
enjoy eating and drinking and sensual delights. I say, and I repeat it
again, I don't care what you apparently are, I love you all just the
same. I look at you from an entirely different standpoint from which you
look at yourselves. Now you all look at yourselves and at others
according to sex and your environments. Before me I see men who say of
themselves, I am a lawyer; I am a preacher; I am a banker; I am a
doctor; I am a merchant; I am a mechanic; I am an artist; I am a
musician; I am a farmer; I am a common laborer. Before me I see women
who say, I am a dressmaker; I am a milliner; I am a teacher; I am a
clerk; I am a bookkeeper; I am a typewriter; or I am a lawyer's wife, or
banker's wife, or doctor's wife, or merchant's wife, or preacher's wife,
or mechanic's wife, or farmer's wife. You think of yourselves according
to that position you occupy to make your living, or according to the
relationship you hold as wife, mother, daughter, or according to the
family you are a member of. Then again you all esteem yourselves
according to the degree of comfort, luxuries, health, money or property
which each of you may or may not possess. Also whether you are young,
middle aged or old.
"Dear brothers and sisters, I do not rate you nor judge you nor look at
you in any way according to your conditions, age, sex or environments. I
look at you to-day not as you look at yourselves, but I look at you all
as spiritual beings, pure and perfect; nay, I look upon you all as
being still more than that, for I look upon you all as being the
manifestation of the One great Infinite Spirit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account