After a recent overnight stay in St. Joseph’s Candler Hospital in Savannah, I developed a greater appreciation for the gentleness that can be found in silence. My back felt as though it was broken in a half dozen places, and my feet hurt as badly if I had been dancing with an elephant.

Thanks to the Good Lord that I wasn’t the patient. Someone else occupied the hospital bed, and they had been ready to go home since first walking through the entrance door.