--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was Sunday morning, and old people…" description: "\"“It was Sunday morning, and old people passed me like sad grey waves on their way to church.”\" — Barbara Comyns" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c2/barbara-comyns-47028_church_it-was-sunday-morning-and-old-people-pas_474495.jpg" --- # It was Sunday morning, and old people passed me like sad… ![“It was Sunday morning, and old people passed me like sad grey waves on their way to church.” quote by Barbara Comyns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c2/barbara-comyns-47028_church_it-was-sunday-morning-and-old-people-pas_474495.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c2/barbara-comyns-47028_church_it-was-sunday-morning-and-old-people-pas_474495.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c2/barbara-comyns-47028_church_it-was-sunday-morning-and-old-people-pas_474495.jpg) > ““It was Sunday morning, and old people passed me like sad grey waves on their way to church.”” [Barbara Comyns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-comyns/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator observes elderly people as melancholy, likening them to waves, highlighting themes of aging, loneliness, and the passage of time. **In simple terms:** Elderly people appear sad and fleeting, like waves. Key Takeaway Recognize and honor the quiet dignity of aging. Themes aging loneliness observation Mood melancholic contemplative Type literary observational When to use this quote - public transport - church visits - community gatherings Key Concepts existentialism social isolation Questions to Reflect On - How do you perceive aging in your community? - What stories of strength can you hear? A Different Perspective The scene may romanticize sadness, overlooking resilience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [Old people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-people/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Sunday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sunday/) [Sunday morning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sunday-morning/) ## Related quotes > [Middle age is when you go to bed at night and hope you feel better in the morning. Old age is when you go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/middle-age-is-when-you-go-to-bed-at-night-and-hope-you-feel-better-in/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [I was one of five out of 100 people who passed the test, which just proved to me how little Americans are taught geography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayshay/i-was-one-of-five-out-of-100-people-who-passed-the-test-which-just/) Ayshay > [“It was surreal, the people I passed as I drove back to the hospital. Everyone acted as though life were normal. My world had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffany-snow/it-was-surreal-the-people-i-passed-as-i-drove-back-to-the-hospital/) [Tiffany Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffany-snow/) > [I always take kind of a zen view of casting and I really don't remember people who passed. I kind of turn it over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-farrelly/i-always-take-kind-of-a-zen-view-of-casting-and-i-really-don-t/) [Peter Farrelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-farrelly/) > [Sunday morning church service is not an enormous priority; spending time with other believers is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/sunday-morning-church-service-is-not-an-enormous-priority-spending/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [“On a bright Sunday morning in the early years of the last century,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-voigt/on-a-bright-sunday-morning-in-the-early-years-of-the-last-century/) [Cynthia Voigt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-voigt/) > [Sunday morning may be cheery enough, with its extra cup of coffee and litter of Sunday newspapers, but there is always hanging over it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/sunday-morning-may-be-cheery-enough-with-its-extra-cup-of-coffee-and/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Worshiping God takes place not just with our words of praise at church on Sunday morning but with our actions of love the rest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-bachinsky/worshiping-god-takes-place-not-just-with-our-words-of-praise-at/) Anna Bachinsky > [“Originally,” Langdon said, “Christianity honored the Jewish Sabbath of Saturday, but Constantine shifted it to coincide with the pagan’s veneration day of the sun.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/originally-langdon-said-christianity-honored-the-jewish-sabbath-of/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > ['CBS Sunday Morning' goes by its own pulse, a far cry from the fast-paced, Trump-obsessed cable news world. It's quality. It's often uplifting, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryn-kagan/cbs-sunday-morning-goes-by-its-own-pulse-a-far-cry-from-the-fast/) [Daryn Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryn-kagan/) > [My dad sung and played piano. But he was also a man of God. He was a minister. So when Sam Cooke would come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/merry-clayton/my-dad-sung-and-played-piano-but-he-was-also-a-man-of-god-he-was-a/) [Merry Clayton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/merry-clayton/) > [When on a Sunday morning we hear the old bells ring out, we ask ourselves, "Is it possible! This is done on account of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/when-on-a-sunday-morning-we-hear-the-old-bells-ring-out-we-ask/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Sunday morning, before we go to hear the Word of God preached...let us not rush into God’s presence careless, reckless, and unprepared, as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/sunday-morning-before-we-go-to-hear-the-word-of-god-preached-let-us/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [“The sun of Sunday morning up out of the sleepless sea from black Liverpool. Sitting on the rocks over the water with a jug…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-p-donleavy/the-sun-of-sunday-morning-up-out-of-the-sleepless-sea-from-black/) [J.P. Donleavy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-p-donleavy/) > [I grew up in Harlem. My grandmother was one of the best cooks around, but the first thing she did on Sunday mornings when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-carmona/i-grew-up-in-harlem-my-grandmother-was-one-of-the-best-cooks-around/) [Richard Carmona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-carmona/) ## More by Barbara Comyns > [“Now I lay down on this tree and felt a lonely sadness coming over me in waves. Slow tears ran from my eyes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-comyns/now-i-lay-down-on-this-tree-and-felt-a-lonely-sadness-coming-over-me/) [Barbara Comyns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-comyns/) > [“After a time Emma opened the picnic basket and they ate honey sandwiches with ants on them and drank the queer tea that always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-comyns/after-a-time-emma-opened-the-picnic-basket-and-they-ate-honey/) [Barbara Comyns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-comyns/) > [“Her face worked in an odd way, like knitting coming undone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-comyns/her-face-worked-in-an-odd-way-like-knitting-coming-undone/) [Barbara Comyns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-comyns/) > [“She cleared her throat once or twice, and said something about poor people should eat a lot of herrings, as they were most nutritious,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-comyns/she-cleared-her-throat-once-or-twice-and-said-something-about-poor/) [Barbara Comyns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-comyns/) > [“She came to a little wrecked pleasure-steamer, which had become embedded in the mud several summers ago and which no one had bothered to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-comyns/she-came-to-a-little-wrecked-pleasure-steamer-which-had-become/) [Barbara Comyns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-comyns/) > [“When I left the kitchen the whole family were all gazing upwards at the dancing flies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-comyns/when-i-left-the-kitchen-the-whole-family-were-all-gazing-upwards-at/) [Barbara Comyns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-comyns/) [Explore all 7 Barbara Comyns quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-comyns/) ## More Church quotes > [While the 1963 Birmingham church bombing is the most historic, there also was a series of church burnings in the 1990s. Recognition of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthea-butler/while-the-1963-birmingham-church-bombing-is-the-most-historic-there/) [Anthea Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthea-butler/) > [If I had my brothers I think with just a little bit of the correct marketing, I'd like to be almost exclusively in small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-bozzio/if-i-had-my-brothers-i-think-with-just-a-little-bit-of-the-correct/) [Terry Bozzio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-bozzio/) > [Turn over the pages of history and read the damning record of the church's opposition to every advance in every field of science. . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/turn-over-the-pages-of-history-and-read-the-damning-record-of-the/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Jeff Chu's pilgrimage across America to discover his own place as a gay man in the Christian church as well as attitudes about being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-freitas/jeff-chu-s-pilgrimage-across-america-to-discover-his-own-place-as-a/) [Donna Freitas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-freitas/) > [God is not calling us to go to church; he is calling us to be his church, the hope of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-groeschel/god-is-not-calling-us-to-go-to-church-he-is-calling-us-to-be-his/) [Craig Groeschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-groeschel/) > [The emerging church movement has come to believe that the ultimate context of the spiritual aspirations of a follower of Jesus Christ is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samir-selmanovic/the-emerging-church-movement-has-come-to-believe-that-the-ultimate/) [Samir Selmanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samir-selmanovic/) > [ T\]he church is not a place. It's not a building. It's not a preaching point. It's not a spiritual service provider. It's a people… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/t-he-church-is-not-a-place-it-s-not-a-building-it-s-not-a-preaching/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [There could be no more powerful argument against mixing religion and government than the success of independent African American churches in placing racial segregation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/there-could-be-no-more-powerful-argument-against-mixing-religion-and/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) > [Worship is not about personality, temperament, personal limitations, church background, or comfort. It is about God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wimber/worship-is-not-about-personality-temperament-personal-limitations/) [John Wimber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wimber/) > [A beggarly people, A church and no steeple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/a-beggarly-people-a-church-and-no-steeple/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The religion of art, like the religion of politics, was born from the ruins of Christianity. Art inherited from the old religion the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/the-religion-of-art-like-the-religion-of-politics-was-born-from-the/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [The minute you walk outside of your church on Sunday you're in mission territory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-barron/the-minute-you-walk-outside-of-your-church-on-sunday-you-re-in/) [Robert Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-barron/) > [I'm not ashamed of the things I believe and why I believe them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-huckabee/i-m-not-ashamed-of-the-things-i-believe-and-why-i-believe-them/) [Mike Huckabee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-huckabee/) [Browse all 9,430 Church quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It was Sunday morning, and old people passed me like sad grey waves on their way to church.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Barbara Comyns" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-comyns/it-was-sunday-morning-and-old-people-passed-me-like-sad-grey-waves-on/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Church" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-comyns/it-was-sunday-morning-and-old-people-passed-me-like-sad-grey-waves-on/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c2/barbara-comyns-47028_church_it-was-sunday-morning-and-old-people-pas_474495.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c2/barbara-comyns-47028_church_it-was-sunday-morning-and-old-people-pas_474495.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c2/barbara-comyns-47028_church_it-was-sunday-morning-and-old-people-pas_474495.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It was Sunday morning, and old people passed me like sad grey waves on their way to church.” — Barbara Comyns", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Barbara Comyns", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-comyns/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It was Sunday morning, and old...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-comyns/it-was-sunday-morning-and-old-people-passed-me-like-sad-grey-waves-on/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-comyns/it-was-sunday-morning-and-old-people-passed-me-like-sad-grey-waves-on/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```