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Show TrtlA 3 (Befcaie . . . Journalist Finds Flight From Life into Brazilian Jungle Only a Step From Death Virginia Prewett, a native of Tennessee, who flod from civilization civiliza-tion after fighting dictatorships, reaveals now her personal creed. This is one of a series of statements by thinking, useful people in all walks of life. "This I Believe" appears in this paper every Thursday and is presented by Edward R. Murrow over K S U B at 6 p. m., Monday through Friday. By Virginia Prewett Foreign Correspondent; Author "Beyond the Great Forest" I have had an unusual chance to decide what I believe. A Jew years ago, I abandoned an active career as a foreign correspondent correspond-ent and plunged into a South American wilderness to think things out. Earlier, during the Second World War and afterwards, after-wards, I had worked Intensely in the often perilous job of reporting report-ing on dictatorships throughout Latin American. When Juan Peron crushed freedom in Argentina, Ar-gentina, my despair was so great I felt that I must go far away to a new place, where I could find peace and build a new life. I went to the highland forests in inner Brazil, where I bought virgin timberland to clear for a farm. I did not find haven there, but instead discovered that when I left my responsibilities responsibili-ties behind, I began something like a flight from life itself. Through this experience, I discovered that trying to escape from my problems led to a dangerous dan-gerous disorganization of life and purpose. I learned that retreat re-treat from life is only a step from seeking death. Even before I went to the Brazilian forest, I had accepted the Biblical teaching that I should try to forget my narrow self and look outward. I did forget for-get myself in the fight over press freedom in Argentina. But I had to learn something more that to use life with proper appreciation, I must not be dismayed dis-mayed and try to run away when a good fight fails. As I struggled to start a farm in the Brazilian forest, I learned how true It is that there is no such thing as an unimportant person. The illiterate Brazilian backlanders are untaught, but not unintelligent, and in my very difficulties with one man, named Manoel, I came to see what he was striving for. Manoel is dead now, but before he died, he made me understand his problems, which were those of dispossessed people the world over, Manoel made me understand under-stand that the drive of men like himself, who are in revolt, is not Just a belly-drive, but the instinct in-stinct of survival energizing a strong need for the full expression expres-sion of each rebel's individual personality. I have been passing pass-ing on Manoel's story so in the end, this backlander, who could not read or write, may affect the lives of millions like himself. I believe that heaven wants us to be happy, as well as good, but for that, we must love and earn love. I have found my personal per-sonal haven, not in a forest retreat re-treat but in happy marriage. Every normal person wants to love and to be loved: what we are not taught is how to achieve this. I believe that the cultivation cultiva-tion of tendexness Is the way. I believe this so strongly that I feel the Bible's tremendous trilogy "faith, hope and Love" really means "faith, hope and tenderness." A great English psychologist has traced the tensions ten-sions and aggressiveness of western civilization to what he calls the "tenderness taboo," and I am convinced that only when we break through this taboo can we begin to be happy. Though as a woman I was brought up in a tradition of gentleness, gen-tleness, I have had to learn how to break across the taboo, so strong in our civilization. I have learned that happiness comes with the daily performance perform-ance of small, positive acts of kindness, appreciation and loyalty loy-alty toward those I love. By experience ex-perience I know my own capacity capa-city for tenderness, with all the release and happiness it brings, grows as I practice it. I am sure that for either a man or a woman, this practice of love toward to-ward the people nearest can build the soul a citidal against all assaults. |