Have you ever wished that you were someplace other than where you are, in some job other than the one you presently have, in a vocation other than the one you are presently living? I ask you this question because I think everyone questions what they are doing with their life from time to time. I remember reading about King Henry III of the Kingdom of Bavaria. He lived in the eleventh century and was a remarkable man. After years of court life and the pressures that go with being a monarch, Henry decided that he was fed up with being king and he didn’t want to be king any more. He looked around his kingdom and noticed that the people who appeared to be most at peace and most happy with their lot in life were the monks at the local monastery. He knew what he had to do.

After mass on Sunday morning, King Henry III called on the Abbot of the local monastery and asked to be accepted as a monk. The Abbot welcomed his king but said, “Your Majesty, do you understand that to be a monk here would require you to live a life of obedience? I am sure that this would be quite difficult for you since you have always been the most powerful person in the kingdom. You are used to doing whatever you wish. It cannot be that way if you are a monk here. If you were a monk here you would have to live in complete obedience to me, your abbot. Do you think you can do that?”

King Henry thought about this for a few moments and then replied, “I swear on my honor that for the rest of my life I will live the life of a good monk, completely obedient to you, my abbot, as Christ leads you to direct me.”

With that the abbot accepted the king as a monk. After the king-turned monk had professed his vows the abbot called him in and said, “Brother, as your abbot, I order you to go back to your throne and serve faithfully for the rest of your life in the place where God has put you.”

Henry returned to his throne and served faithfully until the day he died. When he returned to his throne he experienced a new sense of purpose, a sense of peace and real joy. His people loved him dearly. He was a good, just king.

I think everyone tires of their roles and their responsibilities and looks for ways to be freed from them. It is important to remember however that God has called each of us to serve him in very particular ways. He knows our potential better than we do. He knows just where we our needed and he knows what our needs are as well. He calls us and expects us to serve him faithfully. It is quite natural to want to be somewhere else, to be someone else, to be freed of the pressures of our daily responsibilies, yet what will make us truly happy and truly at peace is to be that faithful servant who one day will hear those famous words – “Well done, good and faithful servant, welcome into your Father’s joy.”