#MastersofSocialIsolation #8 While awaiting an end to this time of isolation we might envy the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus. Per ancient legend these 7 young Christian men, escaping persecution under the emperor Decius (251), hid in a cavern, where they fell into a miraculous sleep.
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The emperor ordered them sealed in the cave. There they remained 200 yrs until the cave was unsealed, at which point they awoke, thinking they had only slept a day. When they sent one of their number into town to buy food, he was astonished to discover signs that Christianity—
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...only yesterday a persecuted sect—was now the state religion. They repeated their tale for the bishop, who rejoiced in this miraculous sign. At this point, the 7 martyrs gave up their spirits. Their bodies were placed in golden caskets, and their cave became their grave.
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When we emerge from our season of seclusion, may we find that in the meantime the world we left behind has acquired new wisdom, and new habits of solidarity, unselfishness, and compassion.
