Work While Ye Have the Light

'Work while ye have the light,' is Tolstoy in teaching mode. The opening scene is an aristocratic dinner party, at which all the guests declare themselves dissatisfied with their dissolute and useless lives; but find a thousand different reasons why nothing should change. There follows a moral tale, set in the 1st Century AD, when the new Christian sect was just getting noticed by the prevailing Roman Empire. It tells the story of two school friends, Pamphylius and Julius, who take different paths in life; but whose paths keep crossing. Pamphylius joins the Christians, living poor in community, while Julius acquires status and power. Here Tolstoy gives us his picture of authentic Christianity; and gives Julius a choice.