Patience, patience...

We should not find it strange if the passions and sicknesses war against us, but rather we should entreat God to give us patience, that great balm for the wounds of the soul as well as of the body.  Patience is the one and only diamond which beautifies the Christian and makes straight the rough road of our salvation.  Patience is the fortitude of the soul, the support, the deep root that holds the tree when the winds beat against it and the streams strike it.