A Great Cathedral

Once there were three stonecutters engaged in the building of a cathedral in medieval times. A man came up to the first stonecutter , in the exhausting midday heat of a dying Italian summer, and asked him what he was doing. The stonecutter barely looked up. ''As you can see,'' he said, bitterly, ''I am cutting stones.'' The man waited a while . Then he went up to the second stonecutter and asked him the same question. This stonecutter didn't hesitate. ''I'm providing a living for my family,'' he replied. Some time later, the man went up to the third stonecutter, again he asked the question, ''What are you doing ?'' This stonecutter put down his tools , looked up at the man asking him the question , wiped his brow and smiled. ''I am building a great cathedral.''