Reconstructing

The State must
consider the
poor man, and
all voices must
speak for him.
Every child that
is born must have
a just chance for
his bread. Let
the amelioration
in our laws of
property
proceed
from the
concession
of the rich,
not from the
grasping of
the poor. Let us
begin by habitual
imparting.
It is worth pausing
to marvel that this
passage and the one
above on philanthropy
were produced by the
same mind in 1841. Now,
how does one move from not
belonging to humanity to being
a lover of it? Emerson’s “habitual
imparting” sounds a lot like Christ’s
ethic of acting generously even
before one feels generous. We
must teach each new generation
the “equitable rule” that
“no one should take more
than his share, let him be
ever so rich.” Of course,
this is the rule of Jesus.
As Emerson put it, “This
great, overgrown, dead
Christendom of
ours still keeps
alive at least the
name of a lover
of mankind”—
and the fact that
Jesus is the only
person to ever
become a true
“lover” must not
discourage us
from aspiring to
his standard.
Reconstructing: Fall 2022
Reconstructing: Fall 2022