"They also serve who only sit and wait." This has become a mantra as I wait...and so I sought the origin of the quotation.

I don't know why I didn't remember it was Milton--except that Milton belongs to a time and place of grey sky and limestone and eager study, my brain hurting in its growth, Professor Barnes, Queen's, 1978...

In that classrom was that electric moment when I first read the words "Batter my heart, three-person'd God"--John Donne, robust, manly, earthy, and spiritual--the man who wrote "The Compass" and "The Flea".

Milton flew under my radar.

And now, I see, the misquoting that I and a million others are guilty of: "they also serve who only stand and wait."

To stand, not sit. Standing: poised, ready, for that first moment of imbalance we must risk in order to take a step.

Get out from under that tree, Jonah! Recognize the difference between the reason for this waiting and the purpose of this waiting.