"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.
On the brow of the hill, behind a silent chapel,
two windmills spin new soundscapes over
the land, cart-wheeling alleluias.
Cloistered granite holds an orchestration
of birds, and eerie whirr, tremulous sounds
of curlew and lapwing. The wind
through the metal gate is a speaking in tongues
with the broken feed-hoop tuning in:
other-worldly, intimately insistent.
All this music to attend to, to slip into:
an old organ droning, an uproarious lullaby.
Up over da hill, arms turn, the heart lifts.