The baby had been crying all night and the poor mother had been doing her best to quiet him. She sang to him, she scolded him, she petted and rocked him; but it was no good. The baby must have been teething, and it was a weary night for the whole family. But now the dawn was coming over the dark trees, and at last the baby became quiet. There was a peculiar stillness as the sky grew lighter and lighter. The dead branches were clear against the sky, slender and naked; a child called, a dog barked, a lorry rattled by, and another day had begun.
Presently the mother came out carrying the baby, carefully wrapped, and walked along the road past the village, where she waited for a bus.
Presumably she was taking him to the doctor. She looked so tired and haggard after that sleepless night, but the baby was fast asleep.
Soon the sun was over the treetops, and the dew sparkled on the green grass. Far away a train whistled, and the distant mountains looked cool and shadowy. A large bird flew noisily away, for we had disturbed her brooding.
Our approach must have been very sudden, for she hadn’t had time to cover her eggs with dry leaves. There were over a dozen of them. Even though uncovered they were hardly visible, she had so cleverly concealed them, and now she was watching from a distant tree. We saw the mother with her brood a few days later, and the nest was empty.
It was shady and cool along the path, which led through the damp woods to the distant hilltop, and the wattle was in bloom. It had rained heavily a few days before, and the earth was soft and yielding. There were fields of young potatoes, and far down in the valley was the town. It was a beautiful, golden morning. Beyond the hill the path led back to the house.
She was very clever. She had read all the latest books, had seen the latest plays, and was well informed about some philosophy which had become the latest craze. She had been analysed and had apparently read a great deal of psychology, for she knew the jargon.
She made a point of seeing all the important people, and had casually met someone who brought her along. She talked easily and expressed herself with poise and effect.
She had been married, but had had no children; and one felt that all that was behind her, and that now she was on a different journey.
She must have been rich, for she had about her that peculiar atmosphere of the wealthy. She began right away by asking, ‘In what way are you helping the world in this present crisis?’ It must have been one of her stock questions. She went on to ask, more eagerly, about the prevention of war, the effects of communism, and the future of man.
Are not wars, the increasing disasters and miseries, the outcome of our daily life? Are we not, each one of us, responsible for this crisis? The future is in the present; the future will not be very different if there is no comprehension of the present.
But do you not think that each one of us is responsible for this conflict and confusion?
‘It may be so; but where does this recognition of responsibility lead? What value has my little action in the vast destructive action? In what way is my thought going to affect the general stupidity of man?
What is happening in the world is sheer stupidity, and my intelligence is in no way going to affect it. Besides, think of the time it would take for individual action to make any impression on the world.’
Is the world different from you? Has not the structure of society been built up by people like you and me? To bring about a radical change in the structure, must not you and I fundamentally transform ourselves?
How can there be a deep revolution of values if it does not begin with us? To help in the present crisis, must one look for a new ideology, a new economic plan? Or must one begin to understand the conflict and confusion within oneself, which, in its projection, is the world?
Can new ideologies bring unity between man and man? Do not beliefs set man against man? Must we not put away our ideological barriers, for all barriers are ideological and consider our problems, not through the bias of conclusion and formulas, but directly and without prejudice?
We are never directly in relationship with our problems, but always through some belief or formulation.
We can solve our problems only when we are directly in relationship with them. It is not our problems which set man against man, but our ideas about them. Problems bring us together, but ideas separate us.
— Excerpt from Commentaries on Living I