You can rake the muck this way, rake the muck that way — it will always be muck. Have I sinned or have I not sinned? In the time I am brooding over i… - Martin Buber

It was from Buber’s other writings that I learned what could also be found in I and Thou: the central commandment to make the secular sacred.

is even worse than fear for oneself. The shadows of madness became longer as the day progressed, and even though it was certain that crime could have no permanence, it was unfortunately uncertain how long and how far God would permit this trial to go, for I am sorry to say that in history there are many examples of extended periods of darkness.

To be old is a glorious thing when one has not unlearned what it means to begin, this old man had perhaps first learned it thoroughly in old age.