Waiting with
Patience
“Patience
is not simply the ability to wait—it's how we behave while we're
waiting.”
Joyce
Meyer
My son's having surgery
today—a disc in his neck ruptured, and has to be removed. We've
been waiting for a couple of weeks for the surgery to be scheduled.
We've tried to go about life-as-usual, and we've more or less
succeeded, but we're both people of action. Waiting patiently is not
our modus operandi. We do it rather grudgingly, I'm afraid.
This, however, is the
season of waiting. Advent—waiting for the coming of the Son, the
Light of the world. Waiting for this son of mine to be restored to
health has connected me from the heart to women all over the world
who are waiting—waiting for the bombs to stop, waiting for food to
be available, waiting for a child to come home from war. Waiting for
the world to become kinder, easier; waiting for a decent place to
live, waiting for a return to normal life. Waiting, waiting...
And how do we behave
while we're waiting? We do what we can, when we can. I watched the
news footage last night of the people of Aleppo, Syria, leaving their
bombed out city—young women, scant belongings perched on their
heads, so they could use both hands to hold on to their children; old
women, walking with canes, or assistance—just going, they know not
where, and praying for an Advent, a coming of the Light. Putting one
foot in front of the other, they do what they can.
Patience while waiting is
a product of trust—trust in God, trust that the goodness of
humanity will somehow prevail. Trust that love and kindness will win
over hate and greed. Trust that we can handle whatever comes. We will
not find trust or patience outside ourselves, but we can find them within. The Light of Advent is found in one's own heart. In the best
of all worlds, it is reflected back by the light of others, who are
also patiently waiting.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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