Ever been to a circus? I mean a big, super-duper, three-ring, Barnum and Bailey, Greatest Show on Earth-type circus? Under the big top, there is continuous activity, with performances in all three rings—bands and barters, jugglers and gymnasts, all going on at once. Let's say you go to the circus, then come home and try to describe it, or even better, try to write a letter to a friend sharing "the circus." The only way to talk about it or write about it is one ring at a time—"I looked and saw…then I looked and saw…"—even though the action in the circus was actually going on all at once, concurrent, synchronous, overlapping and side-by-side. 

In the center of the three rings, in the midst of the pageant and popcorn-sellers, the musicians and magicians, there is one person who holds it all …