A Pilgrim’s Voyages

Once there was a man who worked long and diligently on menial tasks; he enjoyed them very much. He would use only his hands, a bucket of water and an old, clean rag riddled with patches. As time passed and he gained many years, loud tools were invented to make work speedy and more efficient for an ever-quickening world.

On his last day of work the old man spent an entire day cleaning a large bit of floor, smiling all the while. Others came with offers to “speed things up” but he ignored them and continued on in his task. When he finished a young man stood next to him, surveying his work.

“Sir,” he said respectfully, “I could have finished that in a fraction of the time you spent on it.”

“Maybe,” said the man with unchanged countenance, “but then you wouldn’t have been able to hear Him speaking tenderly in your ear.”

“Hear who?” The young man replied, glancing around.

“Precisely.” He concluded, handing the young man his bucket of water and the old, clean rag, riddled with patches.