The Joy of waiting

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“Are we nearly there yet” was always the cry at the back of the car when we were going on holiday. The journey to our destination always seemed to take for ever. The reply in the front from Mum and Dad was always the same answer another “15 munities” which actually meant an hour or so. Then there would be the inevitable answer you just have to be patient. You can almost get the sense that this could also be true of Christmas especially if you have Children or grandchildren. It is an exciting time of the year but we need to learn to be patient and wait so that we can celebrate that great season of Christmas well.

In this holy season of Advent we are waiting in expectant hope for the coming of the messiah and so we need to try our best to prepare for it. This means that we may need to wait and be patient.

These are two things that as a nation and as a people we are not very good at doing. When the bus is 1 minute late we tut and complain. We may get like the Post office cue syndrome where we dance from one cue to another hoping it will go down quicker. As life has got quicker we have got less patient. And so we need to learn to be patient. I remember on a trip to Africa many years ago learning this lesson. My plane was going to leave at 11am so I got there like a good person at 9.30am for check in. My other flight from Jo Berg was not leaving to 3pm in the afternoon so I had plenty of time. At 1pm getting tetchy and losing my patients very quickly I went to complain to the air line that we had not yet gone. He said the trouble with you westerners is that you worry too much about your own time and not time spent with friends and family. A very profound statement.

When we are patient and have time to stop and reflect we can see that it is in waiting and preparing well that we get to see the true meaning of something. So do not be in a hurry to celebrate Christmas take your time and celebrate Advent. But use the time wisely. It is a time of reflection, a time of expectant waiting, inevitably it is a time of Christmas shopping wrapping presents and watching countless Christmas movies but, don’t get tired of it all before it arrive. Enter deeply into this time of reflection listening in prayer entering into the mystery of God’s love for us and keeping in mind those who are less fortunate than ourselves.

 

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