"I declare," said Lacy vividly, "Those Spanish monks really understand life." Her friend smiled.
"You know, I think I'll go to Spain someday, just to study their culture! Emily, we should do this together." She continued, and Emily nodded slowly, taking care not to lose her needle in the many folds of material she was currently working together.
"I think somehow, that your interest does not lie in the whole of Spanish culture, rather the work which the monks do--make chocolate. You do realize that no one knows their secret?"
"Yes, but maybe they will tell me." Lacy was not to be discouraged.
"I seriously doubt that. These monks have discovered the recipe, and why should they give it away? It is at least some way that they may receive funds for their work. If others took this from them, I hesitate to think of what may happen." Emily pursued.
"Alright, maybe I won't beg for it, but perhaps if I read about their past maybe it will tell me . . ."
"Lacy! Didn't you hear what I just said?"
"Yes, well, sort of."
"What ever gave you such ideas?" Emily was disgusted, and she had pricked her finger.
At the monastery in Spain a few months later, a letter arrived from a certain Miss Lacy De Bois.
"Another letter asking about our chocolate, no doubt." Br. Cletus remarked to his companion.
"I think you are right. When will these people ever learn? I will take it to the superior."
The superior was a very honest man, and smiled at the letter.
"Br. Cletus, write down a reply letter to a certain Miss Lacy De Bois. Dear Madame, in reply to your inquiries of how this order came to find the balance in life, i.e. chocolate, I wish to share with you a secret."
"But--" Br. Cletus began, but said no more, and rather smiled as he finished the letter.
"Emily! They replied to my letter, the monks I mean. Here, read it." Lacy handed her friend the letter. By the time Emily was finished, Lacy was bub ling with excitement.
"But I don't understand, he didn't tell you the secret." Emily mused.
"That is what I thought, but the more I thought about it the more sense it made. And it would explain the perfection of this gift of God."
"But all it says is 'the secret to the perfect food is a perfect way of life.' That doesn't tell you anything."
"Yes it does! The monks perfected chocolate by discipline. Those people that have failed on creating this delicacy failed because they did not have the patience, the thought, or the wisdom. By striving for perfection in themselves, the find perfection also in the things about them, like chocolate!"
Emily just sighed. Her friend was so odd.
