no mortal answer

8/14/2019 No Mortal Answer

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SOLITARINESSis the core of every man. And what he believes lies atthe 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 yetI 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-def eating. Through intimateanalysis, man recognizes more clearly that he isweak, 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

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THIS I BELIEVE-CONTEMPORA.RIES

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 neverreaches 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.

is District Judge for Massachusetts.Educated at Exeter and the HarvardLaw School, he served as clerk to

both Judge A. N . Hand and JudgeL~med Hand, who, he says, gave himhis professional canons, intellectualstandards, and criteria of what mak esa useful citizen. In 1933 F.D.R. ap-pointed him a Solicitor of Labor for

Sec:e.tary Frances Perkins. In 1935SolICItor General Reed took him onhis staff for arguments before the Su"

preme Court onhe U.S. From 1937to 1941 he reverted to private prac-tice; but, after serving in Washingtonon the National Defense MediationBoard, he was appointed .DistrictJudge by President Roosevelt.

Judge Wyzanski makes annual tripsto Europe on behalf of ILO. In 1943,as he phrases it , "I had the incredibleluck to marry the happiest, most un-spoiled and most lovable girl I haveever met. Living with her makes thewhole year Spring."