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On this planet each one of us is potentially a slave. We are frail, mortal, in need of care. We won't survive without friends, or at least someone to help us make our way. So early on, we learn to make our way through compromise and service. Nevertheless, few are they who will admit to servitude. Tell a man anything, but do not tell him he is a slave, that he has bartered freedom for the necessities of life. Such declarations he saves to make to himself. They are not for you to make. When we speak to ourselves on this matter, however, we can be candid. Examining our beliefs, the ones we daily espouse in public, we can ask ourselves, "How did I come about this belief? Have I examined its foundations, its implications, and my reasons for believing it?" We have the right to do this, in the privacy of our hearts. Looking there, we may see that we have chosen to believe what will make the world friendly to us, and nothing more. For the words of our mouth are the coin we spend with our peers. By our statements in agreement with theirs, we buy their acceptance. To disagree with another is to close down commerce, we fear, so often we tender only what brings us within the fold. Looking further then, at how these beliefs that we have adopted for the benefit of friendship have shaped us, we will see that they are like the bones of our skeleton. If these beliefs suit us badly, our self is misshapen. If our beliefs contain seeds of self-derision, we betray ourselves, our bones grow twisted and serve us ill. If our beliefs serve us well, we grow strong and thrive, mature richly, and die at peace. So these beliefs, which reside within us, must always be the matter of our urgent attention. If we must speak to please the common view, so be it, but within ourselves, let us grow straight. And since it is so true, that whose bread I eat, whose song I sing, one must take care to eat not the bread of those whose beliefs are not what ours should be. |