“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction.”5 It is worth considering what he meant by this, in light of Carlyle’s insight. He could have meant that the best religious practice is to serve others. But perhaps more accurately, one could take his words to mean this: a life devoted to serving others reflects the best conceivable set of values. Regardless of what we say we believe, such a life shows what we believe: that our hearts are attuned to others, that we feel the pain of the vulnerable and seek to relieve it, that
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