A student arranged to meet his teacher and said, “Your course is so difficult to understand, the content is boring and I am failing the exams. I am so frustrated.”

“It will pass,” the teacher said with indifference.

One week later, the student returned during office hours and exclaimed excitedly, “I can’t believe how easy this stuff is, I totally get it. I know I am going to ace your exam!”

“It will pass,” the teacher said with indifference.

“It Will Pass” is a zen parable that speaks to the nature of change. Pebbles on a beach do not last for long, as they are destined to become sand. Like the pebbles that were, the sand too is ephemeral. Eventually, tectonic activity and subduction will recycle the sand and rebuild the mountains from which the pebbles once came. Very little is static on this “third rock from the sun,” such is the way on a planet where few things last for long and change is the inevitable.