Gabriel glanced up at the clock and the strange time and date. The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the first month of the eleventh year. He wondered if he could ever just be truly happy in the present.

He remembered the words of the priest on Sunday and the advice that the first thought of the day should be:

‘Lord, let me dedicate this day to you. Let me live it as you would wish.’ And he thought of today’s psalm, No. 104:

Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.

Would he have the courage to do it?