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There is a legend of a monk who was at his devotions, to who was granted a blessed vision of the Master:–
“Then amid his exaltation,
Loud the convent bell appalling,
From its belfry calling, calling,
Rang through court and corridor
With persistent iteration
He had never heard before.”
It was the hour when the blind and halt and lame, and all the beggars of the street, came to receive their dole of food, and this monk, now on his knees before the vision, was almoner that day. Should he go, or should he stay? Then a voice came,–
“Do thy duty; that is best;
Leave unto thy Lord the rest.”
So he arose and hastened away, did his service among the poor, and came again to find the vision standing where he had left it.
“Through the long hour intervening
It had waited his return,
And he felt his bosom burn,
Comprehending all the meaning,
When the Blessed Vision said,
‘Hadst thou stayed I must have fled.’”
There is a lesson in this “Legend Beautiful” for us. The ecstasy of communion must never detain us from life’s common task work. We cannot keep the rapture of devotion if we neglect the duty of service. Worship is meant to fit us for better work, never to make us less ready for any tasks.