In the musical, West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein's modern paraphrase of Romeo and Juliet, Tony and Maria, the two lovers, confidently sing that there will be "a time for us," a time when their day for true love will arrive, a time when all the pieces will fit together, a time when the fulfillment they dream of will be realized, a time when human life will make sense, a time when the mysteries and questions will be resolved, a time when they will have the confidence they have not lived and loved in vain.

Many of us loved the musical, because like Romeo and Juliet, it spoke to some of our deepest human longings and needs. We labor and toil, make love and fight, strive and endure, because we think some day it will all come together like the finale of some grand symphony. Someday, we think …