“Thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord” (Jer. 1:7-8).
“Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth” (Jer. 1:9).
There comes a day when all voices, soft or terrible, that man has heard, grow still, to let henceforth only one be heard, which cries to him: “Go! go now and be a witness of the things you have heard! Go! I send you forth as lambs among wolves! Go! I send you toward men whose brow is harsh, whose heart is wicked! Fear nothing, I shall embolden your face. I shall give you a heart of brass and a forehead of diamond.”
When that moment has come, one must, in order to remain faithful to his mission, remember that after all he is only a voice. Truth does not belong to us; it is we who belong to truth! Woe to him who possesses it and treats it as something that belongs to himself. Happy is he who is possessed by it! No preference, no kinship, no sympathy counts here. Alas! it is not thus that men understand it. It is for this reason that they degrade truth and that it becomes without power in their hands. Instead of winging its way heavenward in vigorous flight, it crawls along the earth, like an eagle whose wings have been broken. Nothing is sadder than to see how those who ought to lend their voice to truth, turn it to their own uses and play with it.—Charles Wagner.
For truth with tireless zeal they sought;
In joyless paths they trod—
Heedless of praise or blame they wrought,
And left the rest with God.
The lowliest sphere was not disdained;
Where love could soothe or save
They went, by fearless faith sustained,
Nor knew their deeds were brave.
—Unknown.