mortality's development towards death.
The overshadowing that kills is like a lack of confidence in the mind; so that though one may make the correct decision 99 times, on the 100th occasion one makes the wrong decision, which undoes all the good which one had done before. It is like a nameless fear, which one wishes one could face; but which one cannot face because one cannot name the fear; one does not know of what one is afraid. It is like a devil locked in the attic of one's mind; but whether the devil is locked in the attic of one's mind, or rampaging through the drawing-room, if he is in the house at all, one's life is conditioned by his presence. Countless times I have heard parish priests say we are all miserable sinners, it is impossible to eliminate sin in this world. If this is true, one is compelled to live in a world in which every human relationship is tainted, every motive suspect, every hope threatened with annihilation from within. Is it surprising in those circumstances that some people pursue their own selfish aims?
To change the metaphor, when one is young one wants to fulfil oneself; that's fine so long as one has an uncorrupted consciousness. But the thing which prevents some people doing it is a corrupted one, to use Professor Collingwood' s expression, which one cannot shake off by oneself. A man could shake it off, if he were a complete person; but the corruption of consciousness prevents him becoming a complete person. It's like telling a hunchback that all he needs to stand upright is confidence. You may be right; but the poor fellow has not got confidence. And if you cannot give it to him, there is not much point in your telling him that confidence is the one thing he lacks. The more he tries to stand up straight, the more bitter his knowledge that he cannot. It is the same with evil.
At the same time I am sure that the only solution, if there is a solution, is confidence. I can think of no other. I have been through the Gospels with…