Two qualities which we Americans value highly and in which we take pride are speed and efficiency. Think of how many products or services which all of us use that are built principally around one or both of these qualities. Hundreds of thousands of microwave ovens have been sold, not because they make food taste better, but because it's possible to cook much faster in them. Since so many people lead such busy lives, anything that shortens time in the kitchen has an instant appeal.

A colleague told of meeting a woman from West Germany at a seminar on prayer in Princeton. She was marveling over one of our speedy and efficient inventions, the tea bag. She said that the Germans don't make teabags, and she found it a very convenient way to have a cup of te…