The individual must not think it will be useless if he alone conforms his life to Christ's teaching.[1156] "Men in their present situation are like bees that have left their hive and are hanging on a twig in a great mass. The situation of the bees on the twig is a temporary one, and absolutely must be changed. They must take flight and seek a new abode. Every bee knows that, and wishes to make an end of its own suffering condition and that of the others; but this cannot be done by one so long as the others do not help. But all cannot rise at once, for one hangs over another and hinders it from letting go; therefore all remain hanging. One might think that there was no way out of this situation for the bees";[1157] if and really there would be none, were it not that each bee is an independent living being. But it is only needful "that one bee spread its wings, rise and fly, and after it the second, the third, the tenth, the hundredth, for the immobile hanging mass to become a freely flying swarm of bees. Thus it is only needful that one man comprehend life as Christianity teaches it, and take hold of it as Christianity teaches him to, and then that a second, a third, a hundredth follow him, and the magic circle from which no escape seemed possible is destroyed."[1158]
Neither may the individual let himself be deterred by the fear of suffering. "'If I alone,' it is commonly said, 'fulfil Christ's teaching in the midst of a world that does not follow it, give away my belongings, turn my cheek without resistance, yes, and refuse the oath and military service, then I shall have the last bit taken from me, and, if I do not die of hunger, they will beat me to death, and, if they do not beat me to death, they will jail me or shoot me; and I shall have given all the happiness of my life, nay, my life itself, for nothing.'"[1159] Be it so. "I do not ask whether I shall have more trouble, or die sooner, if I follow Christ's teaching. That question can be asked only by one who does not see how meaningless and miserable is his life as an individual life, and who imagines that he shall 'not die'. But I know that a life for the sake of one's own happiness is the greatest folly, and that such an aimless life can be followed only by an aimless death. And therefore I fear nothing. I shall die like everybody, like even those who do not fulfil Christ's teaching, but my life and my death will have a meaning for me and for others. My life and my death will contribute to the rescue and life of others—and that is just what Christ taught."[1160]
If once enough individuals have conformed their lives to their knowledge, the multitude will soon follow. "The passage of men from one order of life to another does not take place steadily, as the sand in the hour-glass runs out, one grain after another from the first to the last, but rather as a vessel that has been sunk into water fills itself. At first the water gets in only on one side, slowly and uniformly; but then its weight makes the vessel sink, and now the thing takes in, all at once, all the water that it can hold."[1161] Thus the impulse given by individuals will provoke a movement that goes on faster and faster, wider and wider, avalanche-like, suddenly sweeps along the masses, and brings about the new order of life.[1162] Then the time is come "when all men are filled with God, shun war, beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks; that is, in our language, when the prisons and fortresses are empty, when the gallows, rifles, and cannon are out of use. What seemed a dream has found its fulfilment in a new form of life."[1163]
FOOTNOTES:
[859] To. "Kingdom" pp. 244-5, 280, 315, 325.
[860] Ib. pp. 263, 285-6, To. "Gospel" p. 25, "Religion and Morality" p. 14.
[861] To. "What I Believe" p. 251.
[862] To. "Gospel" pp. 13-14, 16-17.
[863] To. "Kingdom" p. 96-7.