These are very exciting times in which to live. Eastern Europeans in communist countries are enjoying freedoms they have waited for, for 30 years. Nelson Mandela is free after 27 years of being in prison in South Africa. Perhaps it's hard for us to comprehend the faith and the hope which sustained these people for so long. Why didn't they give up sooner? Why not just accept failure, quit, drop out, transfer somewhere else, hang it up?

One of my joys in life was visiting the famous Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. I had not anticipated that it would be a joy at all. I know little about art. Most of the art appreciation classes I took in college were taught by little men who wore bow ties and plaid coats with striped pants, and droned incessantly in monotone voices. And the day we got off the train …