"When I see an old priest, shabby in his dress and his speech, distracted like someone whose heart is elsewhere, deaf to the sounds of the earth and attentive to the voices that speak to him in dreams like those of Samuel, I think he's inviting me to sing a Te Deum, because he's a ship that has already weathered the storms of the seven seas.
When I see a young one, embarking on his voyage, impatient to sail the oceans, with too much confidence in the height of his masts, the polish of his hulls, and the grace of his canvas; who looks little to the sky to orient his course and much to the machines that men make, I fear for him.
And even more so if he's an artist; and even more so if he's eloquent; and much more so if he's naive and loves noise, and believes he lacks time and can leave this rubric today, this prayer tomorrow, this meditation later, be late for his Mass; be distracted in his Breviary.
Oh! How many seas and how many reefs lie before its bow, and how far away the harbor!
Hugo Wast
Posts
