Mission

Use in the book

The March 6 conversation moves from admiration for a great religious writer to a law binding everyone. A person's social mission may be almost imperceptible, yet the common good can demand the sacrifice not only of passions but of innocent preferences and plans for private happiness. The criterion is the place where one can do most good, even when family peace would be sweeter.

By May 1834 this requirement meets the speaker's conviction of uselessness. He wonders whether Providence may draw some good from him unknown to himself. The argument does not prove the secret effect; it offers a way of consenting to an unrevealed calling. Such consent should also make him respect other creatures, each possibly serving a ministry beyond his view.

The July declaration about freedom supplies a more explicit object. Even the ant's tiny contribution to a future world can be animated by a generous thought shared with others. Inspiration here is directed toward action and humanity's happiness, not merely the arrival of poetic lines.

Mission therefore links the exceptional apostolate, the smallest civic effort, and an obscure providential usefulness. Their scales differ, but none grants private intensity an automatic exemption from responsibility. The difficulty lies in discovering or accepting what service a fragile person can actually render.

Places to read

1. 6 March 1833 · ¶1The admired writer's genius is understood through apostolic service and sacrificial struggle.
2. 6 March 1833 · ¶3The duty of a social mission is extended to everyone, including sacrifice of innocent private happiness.
3. 26 May 1834 · ¶1Possible hidden usefulness permits trust without claiming to know Providence's purpose.
4. 16 July 1834 · ¶2The thought of freedom inspires deliberate exercise of small powers for humanity's future.

Translation in this edition

The supplied English renders “mission sociale” as “mission in society” and preserves “apostolate” and “common good.” The French “inspiration” in July 1834 belongs to the motivating thought of liberty; it should not be silently narrowed to artistic inspiration.