In the dramatic poem, “Pippa Passes,” by Robert Browning, a representative English poet, the main character Pippa is a poor girl who works for a silk factory in Venice.
When Pippa has a vacation which is only one day in a year, she sings a song full of joy, passing four houses of people who are considered to live the happiest life in her town, one by one. Actually, these four families have been having hard times that others do not know, but when they hear Pippa’s song, they feel peace and freedom that they have not tasted up until that day. Without knowing what a great work she did, Pippa goes to sleep with regret that she spent her vacation meaninglessly.
Something visible is not everything. Since we do not know what’s happening in the invisible world, we must not make a conclusion that only the things that are visible to our eyes are everything that happens.
Don’t you feel shameful by any chance because you don’t have any result of the gospel work? You may not know everything, though. Among the days that you think passed casually, an amazing work of saving one soul could have happened. You don’t need to feel discouraged either just because nobody acknowledges you. Even a slight trace left behind the gospel path that you walk silently and obediently is clearly visible to the eyes of God.