<h2><SPAN name="page50"></SPAN><span class="pagenum"></span>OCCUPATION</h2>
<p class="poetry"><span class="smcap">There</span> must in heaven
be many industries<br/>
And occupations, varied, infinite;<br/>
Or heaven could not be heaven.<br/>
What gracious tasks<br/>
The Mighty Maker of the universe<br/>
Can offer souls that have prepared on earth<br/>
By holding lovely thoughts and fair desires!</p>
<p class="poetry">Art thou a poet to whom words come not?<br/>
A dumb composer of unuttered sounds,<br/>
Ignored by fame and to the world unknown?<br/>
Thine may be, then, the mission to create<br/>
Immortal lyrics and immortal strains,<br/>
For stars to chant together as they swing<br/>
About the holy centre where God dwells.</p>
<p class="poetry">Hast thou the artist instinct with no skill<br/>
To give it form or colour? Unto thee<br/>
<SPAN name="page51"></SPAN><span class="pagenum"></span>It may be
given to paint upon the skies<br/>
Astounding dawns and sunsets, framed by seas<br/>
And mountains; or to fashion and adorn<br/>
New faces for sweet pansies and new dyes<br/>
To tint their velvet garments. Oftentimes<br/>
Methinks behind a beauteous flower I see,<br/>
Or in the tender glory of a dawn,<br/>
The presence of some spirit who has gone<br/>
Into the place of mystery, whose call,<br/>
Imperious and compelling, sounds for all<br/>
Or soon or late. So many have passed on—<br/>
So many with ambitions, hopes, and aims<br/>
Unrealised, who could not be content<br/>
As idle angels even in paradise.<br/>
The unknown Michelangelos who lived<br/>
With thoughts on beauty bent while chained to toil<br/>
That gave them only bread and burial—<br/>
These must find waiting in the world of space<br/>
The shining timbers of their splendid dreams,<br/>
Ready for shaping temples, shrines, and towers,<br/>
Where radiant hosts may congregate to raise<br/>
Their glad hosannas to the God Supreme.<br/>
And will there not be gardens glorious,<br/>
And mansions all embosomed among blooms,<br/>
<SPAN name="page52"></SPAN><span class="pagenum"></span>Where
heavenly children reach out loving arms<br/>
To lonely women who have been denied<br/>
On earth the longed-for boon of motherhood?</p>
<p class="poetry">Surely God has provided work to do<br/>
For souls like these, and for the weary, rest.</p>
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