in art, in philosophy and have done so little to develop our faculties
for getting along one with another. In the fields of music, letters, natural
science, religion, there are no national boundaries. They are circum-
scribed by no barriers, natural or unnatural. The whole world is their
domain. In the literary sphere, does it matter that Shakespeare was
English, that Goethe was German, that Dante was Italian? Do scien-
tists ever consider the fact that Einstein was a German, Nobel a Swede,
Pasteur a Frenchman, Freud an Austrian, Marconi an Italian? Is the
music of Beethoven good music because he was a German, or that of
Mozart because he was Austrian?

Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam, of the Methodist Church in the United
States, has given this description of a procession in Amsterdam during
the first assembly of the World Council of Churches. "In that proces-
sion, " he said, "some wore the gorgeous vestments of the Eastern Ortho-
dox Churches and some the simple, significant uniform of the Salvation
Army. Some were bareheaded; others wore velvet caps and birettas;
and still others from the Malabar Coast wore the beautiful headdresses
upon which were embroidered crosses that symbolized our Blessed Lord
and the Twelve. Some wore the ruffled collars of Scandanavia, and
some were clad in business suits. But we were one in Jesus Christ. "
Here we find a good example of groups, diverse in origin, which had
grasped the meaning of true communion.

It is true that tyrants arise from time to tune to burn books, close
theaters, restrict religious observances and prohibit the playing of music
composed by men out of favor. But the harm they do is transient, and
their names soon are lost in the great march of history. In our own
generation, we have observed the erection of many new barriers to the
free flow of ideas among the peoples of the world. All are serious im-
pediments to the good will among men that is so essential to the estab-
lishment of an enduring peace. Much of Europe and most of Asia is cut
off almost completely from the rest of the world. In these circumstances
how can we possibly understand them, and they us?

Without passing judgment on the literary merit of the work, I would
hazard a guess that the great popularity of the Pasternak book in the
United States stems mainly from the desire of Americans to find out
what goes on in the souls of sensitive people who have lived so many
years behind the Iron Curtain.

But even on this side of the Curtain, there is conflict and discord, the
products of misunderstanding. The cure for this misunderstanding, I
think, is to be found in the close communion of men. One usually dis-
likes or distrusts only that which he does not know.

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