In August of 1908, when 80 years old, Tolstoy penned the open letter, “The Blessings of Love,” referring to the Love which embodies the Almighty. Tolstoy wrote much, later-in-life, about his religious convictions, but this episode will focus on this relatively short letter addressed to “Good People Everywhere.”
Tolstoy explicitly introduces the concept of divine Love in War & Peace through Mayra reaching out in prayer when she faces the temptation for physical pleasure when Anatole pays a courting visit. She feels the Lord has placed in her heart the direction to orient herself around heavenly Love. She is reminded to focus on the Lord’s command of Love: meaning commitment to others as demonstrated by God’s willingness to sacrifice his Son.
Tolstoy begins his missive with special appeal to those “fighting on behalf of one government or another, which nobody needs.” He specifically reaches out to his “Dear Brothers” including: “King, Minister, Merchant, Worker, and Peasant.”
He notes that the further he reaches in life, the more it becomes clear that we need to focus on this transcendent Love. Tolstoy proffers that our earthly toils distract us from this obligation; but it is what the Lord desires for our short indeterminate lifespans, which lie between the voids of pre-birth and post-death. Tolstoy, believing his end was immanent, was acknowledging the transience and fragility of terrestrial life. He did not dread the prospect of death, but viewed it as natural and beneficial, like one day passing into another.
He writes that our lives have such potential for joy, where we can appreciate the heavens and nature, with a stewardship for what is before us. Instead, we wind up creatures constructing buildings, factories and roads, often for the latest commerce system that mass produces items Tolstoy believes nobody needs. Such industrial demands create pollution and sicken workers (physically and mentally), who dwell in the slums of the early 20th century. In mining pursuits, Tolstoy emphasizes, somewhat metaphorically, how workers descend into the earth to extract stones and iron. This stands in contrast to looking upwards and outwards – towards the divine.
Instead of living joyfully and being prone to God’s bounty, we hate, kill, harass and accumulate. Some utilitarian masters-of-the-day claim to be guided by a greater good. Others are influenced by habit, tradition, or imitation. However, without focus on the divine, so many have been reduced to fighting like animals, and live a perversion of what life should be.
Ultimately, we must do what coincides with the demands of our soul, namely to act in the spirit of brotherly Love.
Tolstoy proposes: let the those fighting for so-called freedom or order, put a tinge of their efforts toward living out this Love. He is confident everyone will see the fruits of their labor and experience a bliss. Even if you try it for a day, it will make you unlikely to turn back. For Love transcends death. He appears to be referencing popular Gospel teachings, such as to live to accumulate treasures in heaven, instead of riches on earth, which will inevitably perish. For divine Love is eternal.
Tolstoy concludes that all of his fame, wealth, and devices of social life are trivial compared to the Love the soul demands. Therefore, we are to live with sacrificial intent. Such a life is open to us and calls.
