When we were born, the hourglass was turned over, and the sand began to trickle. The movie of our life had begun, and we were a bit player on the silver screen. Life is much too slow; we must learn to crawl and walk. The halcyon days of youth were lost on us as adulthood beckoned. Hurry, do not be late, we heard. Daylight is burning. Places to go and people to see. Speed is success. Not a moment to waste. Decisions became ours to make. Our world became a self-generating bubble of opportunity. Others were in our peripheral vision, and their forms were blurred.

Change is afoot. You can see it, you can feel it. Life is a hurricane with a calm and serene eye. When we are in the eye, we feel peace. When the wind is howling and the hail is hitting our earthen structure, we want to be time travellers. Let us go back to calmer times and safer places. When we were in those glowing days of yore, did we realize our sense of place?

Neva J lived through the Great Depression. She and her siblings foraged for berries in the woods to eat. She and Dad married when he returned from the Pacific Theatre of World War II. It was a time to grab life by the stack-and-swivel as the Big Bands played swing music.

I would like More, please, we say like Oliver Twist. We hurry to enjoy the fruits of the tree of life and let the juice drip off our chins. The sand in the hourglass is diminishing.

Quiet is what we need. Reflection is required. Patience possesses our souls. Most pervasive problems resolve, and as the days pass, we tend to forget how we felt when we could think of nothing else. Remind us, dear Lord.

‘But there shall not a hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls.’