"The Christians should have continued this missionary work among all peoples. They would then have met worthwile hazards of physical hardships and social persecution. They would have been compelled to pray without ceasing a prayer of sincerity and importunity. As they traveled, educating the world, every day they would have received fresh strength from the King of their hearts and souls who takes especial care of his soldiers on the firing line and the outposts of his kingdom. True it is that many Christians did teach this way. Suppose thousands of spiritually and mentally strong teachers had continued the work and had persistently taught true Christianity, the best Greek science and philosophy, arts and crafts, the Dark Ages might never have come upon the Western world and civilization might now be advanced to a point beyond imagining.
The teachers who might have been went into monastic cells. They substituted contemplation for service...While they gazed into the skies searching for God, the barbarians stormed through..."
~Alber & Emily Vail, Transforming Light: The Living Heritage of World Religions
