Saturday, June 14, 2008

It's all in how you frame it

"Dusk in the transept" (Chartres Cathedral)

A traveler from Italy came to the French town of Chartres, to see the great the church that was being built there. Arriving at the end of the day, he went to the site just as the workmen were leaving for home. He asked one man, covered with dust, what he did there. The man replied that he was a stonemason, he spent his days carving rocks. Another man, when asked, said he was a glassblower who spent his days making slabs of colored glass. And still another workman replied that he was a blacksmith who pounded iron for a living. Wandering into the deepening gloom of the unfinished edifice, the traveler came upon an older woman armed with a broom, sweeping up the stone chips, and wood shavings, and glass shards from the day’s work. “And what are you doing,” he asked. The woman paused, leaning on her broom, looked up toward the high arches, replied, “Me? I’m building a cathedral for the glory of almighty God!”

-- Robert Fulghum

Yes, it's the same Robert Fulghum who wrote All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.

3 comments:

  1. This is one of my favorite stories. Life really is all about perspective; we create our own realities.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm really glad you like it, Melody. Thanks for the comment for that prompted me to look at this posting today and take pleasure in the story all over again!

    ReplyDelete

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