In Henri Nouwen’s book, The Wounded Healer, there is an old legend out of the Talmud. A rabbi comes upon Elijah, the prophet, and asks him, “When will the Messiah come?”

Elijah replies, “Go, and ask him yourself.”

“Where is he?” the rabbi asks.

“Sitting at the gates of the city,” Elijah responds.

“But, how shall I know him?” asks the rabbi

“He is sitting among the poor,” Elijah answers, “covered with wounds.”

“The others unbind all their wounds at the same time and then bind them up again,” Elijah explains, “but he unbinds only one wound at a time. Then he binds it up again, saying to himself, `Perhaps I shall be needed; if so, I must always be ready, so as not to delay for a moment.’”