Through such common commitments to constancy as getting married or having children, we have the uncommon experience of trusting other people in a world that would make us strangers. We learn the virtue of patience, of being willing to be part of the journey, even when we are not always sure of when or where it ends. What extraordinary patience it requires, in a world that demands results, for a pastor to have to wait twenty years to see even a glimpse of the Kingdom at a place like Shady Grove. How long did it take the Hebrews to get from Egypt to the Promised Land?
