"Life work" means that to which one will devote one's energies. It is the world of the soul, as well as the material work done in the visible world. These categories of tasks are not separate: they are not inimical to one another any more than sweeping the temple, washing the vestments, or cleaning and arranging the altar are inimical to the act of prayer. On the contrary, these tasks are prayer. They are the work of the soul in that they provide a suitable atmosphere for the cultivation of a contemplative and receptive attitude.
Nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness
in deep down things;
And though the last
lights off the
black West went
Oh, morning,
at the brown brink
eastward, springs . . .
Because the Holy Ghost
over the bent
world broods
with warm breast
and with ah!
bright wings.