I am black: I am the incarnation of a complete fusion with the world, an intuitive understanding of the earth, an abandonment of my ego in the heart of the cosmos, and no white man, no matter how intelligent he may be, can ever understand Louis Armstrong and the music of the Congo.
Where do you think I'd be next week if I didn't know how to shout and holler and make the public take notice? I'd be poor and I'd probably be down in my home town, washing windows or running an elevator and saying
Whites must be made to realize that they are only human, not superior. Same with blacks. They must be made to realize that they are also human, not inferior.
We wait for the day to come when men will turn as eagerly to the work of converting their material wealth into real life values as they are now devoting themselves to mere acquisition. When that time comes the successful business man will stop short in his impetuous career, and ask himself if it really pays to sacrifice life with all its varied, but fast-fleeting opportunities, to an aim so narrow and sordid. Then the multimillionaire will not seek to rid himself of a useless burden by indiscriminate giving, but will study with infinite pains to restore for the happiness and welfare of all mankind those vast riches that society itself has enabled him to accumulate. Then all forms of outward wealth will mean nothing but opportunity for inward growth and expansion. The search for truth, the love of beauty in nature and art, the enthusiasm for humanity, the passion for the ideal, the glow of hope and aspiration, all these, growing up within the soul of man will take up these modern material gifts, in themselves so inert and useless, and make them radiant with a value they do not now possess. Somehow or other this dead world of matter into which, in our western civilization, especially, we have buried too much of our life, must be made to render back the vital treasure of which it has despoiled us. Our world must be spiritualized or it will grow more and more stale and dull and unsatisfactory on our hands. Not to our captains of industry, not to our developers of material wealth must we look for life and life more abundant in the future; but ever to those men who, with some inward illumination, will
The spirit of Eucharistic love will make you refer everything to the Holy Eucharist, for the Eucharist is the summary of all marvels. It is the permanent mystery in which we find all others. If you have this Eucharistic spirit, if your thoughts are tuned continually toward the Eucharist, the presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament will never leave you. God is immense, the universe is filled with God's presence, but the Eucharistic soul prefers to search and find God where he is sacramentally. Just as the eagles assemble where the body is, so also Eucharistic souls are attracted instinctively, easily, and habitually to the Holy Eucharist. Therein is their happiness, their peace; there they find a supernatural knowledge of all things. That is why after holy Communion we often understand some things which before were incomprehensible to us. That is why some saints who were very ignorant spoke admirably of God. Put yourselves, then, dear sisters, in the holy Eucharist, and you will be in a center of light.
We are like a ship fastened to the shore. It floats on the water of the sea, but it does not leave its moorings; it merely bobs up and down. We are like a swimmer who prefers to walk rather than take to the water. O my God, sever these moorings, loosen the thread from the wings of my soul, plunge me into the sea.
God loved us, and to prove it to us became human in order to become our brother in the flesh. He became poor, the poorest of the poor, in order to be able to include us all as his brothers (and sisters). He became a little child in order to be like children, even born, children from the slums. God has loved us and has given us all that he is and has. The Father gave the Son, the Son gave his very self, the Holy Spirit became our habitual sanctifier.... How grateful I should be to this kind Savior!
As for meditation, I would like you to be a disciple of prayer, because without prayer there is no habitual union with God. You need a type of prayer which is suited to your temperament, your situation, your inner inclination, consequently, your heart. Speak simply and candidly to our Lord as with another self, as with your sister. Be a child who is full of love and surrendered to her good maker. Let it be an interior conversation with God more than a work of the mind. Then, a scattered, distracted meditation will come together, because it will express all the thoughts and needs of your heart.
Every ambitious would-be empire, clarions it abroad that she is conquering the world to bring it peace, security and freedom, and it is sacrificing her sons only for the most noble and humanitarian purposes. That is a lie; and it is an ancient lie, yet generations still rise and believe it.
