Dr Albert Schweitzer - Part 8 of 8

how they enjoy their new homes. During the wet season, at least once a day, all outside work comes to a stop because of the tornadoes. With almost no warning, they overtake us. On my way back to the hospital, I come upon a group of women cleaning out underbrush. I urge them to stop working. Everyone seeks shelter from the coming storm. I have learned by experience that these people are much more susceptible to colds than we are. They should not get wet, but still they take their time. The brotherhood of those who bear the mark of pain. Who are the members of this brotherhood? Those who have learned by experience what physical pain and bodily anguish mean and have come together all the world over. They are united by a secret bond. One and all, they know the horrors of suffering to which man can be exposed. And one and all, they know the longing to be free from pain. He who has been delivered from pain must not think he is now free again and at liberty to take up life just as it was before, entirely forgetful of the past. Now he is a man whose eyes are opened with regard to pain and anguish. And he must help others to overcome this pain and this anguish as far as human power can overcome and bring to others the deliverance which he himself has received. One must be careful not to mix himself up uninvited in other people's business. On the other hand, one must not forget the danger lurking in the reserve which daily life forces on all of us. We cannot let ourselves get frozen into regarding everyone we do not know as an absolute stranger. No man is ever completely a stranger to his fellow man. Man belongs to man. Man has claims on man. Our reserve is condemned to be broken down by the claims of the heart and thus all of us get into a position where we must reach out and to one of our fellow men become ourselves a man. A day at Lamberini ends. Late in the evening, Dr. Schweitzer returns to his room. There are a desk, some books, and his old piano. He needs to carry on his work in philosophy, theology, and music. Work that may never be finished because there are claims on his heart.