The Redemption of David CorsonGoss, Charles Frederic
General
The Redemption of David Corson
Goss, Charles Frederic
Society of Friends -- Fiction
As the sun went down and the sower neared the conclusion of his labor,
his emotions became deeper and yet more deep. He entered more and more
fully into the true spirit and significance of his act. He felt that it
was a sacrament. Thoughts of the operation of the mighty energies which
he was evoking; of the Divine spirit who brooded over all; of the coming
into this wilderness of the woman who was to be the good angel of his
life; of the ceremony that was to be enacted in the little meeting
house; of the work to which he was dedicated in the future, kindled his
soul into an ecstasy of joy. He ceased to be conscious of his present
task. The material world loosened its hold upon his senses. His thoughts
became riveted upon the elements of that spiritual universe that lay
within and around him, and that seemed uncovered to his view as to the
apostle of old. "Whether he was in the body, or out of the body, he
could not tell!" Finally he ceased to move; his hand was arrested and
hung poised in mid-air with the unscattered seed in its palm; he eyes
were fixed on some invisible object and he stood as he had stood when we
first caught sight of him in the half-plowed meadow--lost in a trance.
How long he stood he never knew, but he was wakened, at last, as it was
natural and fitting he should be.
Fulfilling her agreement to come and bring him home on the eve of their
wedding day, Pepeeta emerged like a beautiful apparition from an opening
in the green wall of the great cathedral. She saw David standing
immovable in the furrow. For a few moments she was absorbed in
admiration of the grace and beauty of the noble and commanding figure,
and then she was thrilled with the consciousness that she possessed the
priceless treasure of his love. But these emotions were followed by a
holy awe as she discovered that the soul of her lover was filled with
religious ecstasy. She felt that the place whereon she stood was holy
ground, and reverently awaited the emergence of the worshiper from the
holy of holies into which he had withdrawn for prayer.
But the rapture lasted long and it was growing late. The shadows from
the summits of the hills had already crept across the clearing and were
silently ascending the trunks of the trees on the eastern side. It was
time for them to go. She took a step toward him, and then another,
moving slowly, reverently, and touched him on the arm. He started. The
half-closed hand relaxed and the seed fell to the ground, the dreamer
woke and descended from the heaven of the spiritual world into that of
the earthly, the heart of a pure and noble woman.
"I have come," she said simply.
He took her in his arms and kissed her.
"Thee is not through yet?"
"So it seems! I must have lost myself."
"I think thee rather found thyself."
"Perhaps I did; but I must finish my labor. It will never do for me to
let my visions supplant my tasks. They will be hurtful, save as
incentives to toil. I must be careful!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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