Patience

                Patience. Everyone wants everything right now. In this modern world, people don’t even want to wait for a cup of coffee. People impatiently drive their cars into a line to receive a cup of fresh, instantly brewed coffee direct into their hands with which they can drink while driving to wherever they are going. They don’t even have to get out of their cars. If it takes too long according to them, they promptly express their displeasure to the poor soul who just prepared their coffee on the go.

                What happened to the days when sharing a cup of coffee was a relaxed event with no time limit? I realize there are people who will sit for lengthy times drinking coffee with others but it’s not the expected way any more. You have the option of driving up for your coffee and not talking to anyone and that is considered normal. Coffee used to percolate on the stove or on a campfire. I can still hear the bubbling rhythm of the coffee pot. It took time. And if you drank it alone, you took your time drinking it, at least as long as it took to brew it. Everyone is in a hurry to do a million things and to go to a million places - to do what? When Jesus was here on earth, the people were happy to sit and listen, all day if need be. Now, I hear, “I don’t have time for that.” “Daily mass is too long. I have things I need to do.” What could be more pressing than receiving our Lord and spending time in thanks with Him? People don’t seem to enjoy just receiving the gift of life God gave us.

                Patience. We need patience to listen to others. How often do people try to hurry up a conversation? “Just get to the point.” Did anyone say that to Jesus when He was telling a story? We need to remember that we are in a continual state of waiting, waiting for our Lord to return. It’s been over 2000 years, you would think we would be good at waiting and while we wait, why not enjoy the time we have with others? The Lord tells us we know not when He will come again - so we wait.

So wait patiently. Take note of the things around you as you wait; the people, the flowers, the trees, the smells, the animals – all His creations. He didn’t tell us to wait in a blank box. He gave us a whole world full of His rich handiwork to enjoy and appreciate. He didn’t tell us to race from here to there doing a million things, sometimes at the expense of others, ignoring and even plundering and devouring the things He created, even hurting the very people He made.

                Patience. We must wait patiently for His return and while we wait, why not enjoy and share the beautiful things He has given us? Good children wait patiently for their parents to return. It is so nice to see them happily playing with the toys their parents provided for them; to see them sharing with each other, laughing, building big towers and painting beautiful pictures. It brings a smile to the parents upon their return. No parent enjoys coming home to a room full of fighting children, angry and crying, broken toys strewn about, toppled towers and scribbled or crumpled up paintings. No parent wants to come home to chaos. Impatience breeds chaos; patience brings peace.

                Patience. Jesus was the embodiment of patience. He patiently instructed His people, even those who rejected Him. He could have annihilated everything but He didn’t. He chose a path of patient teaching and He asked us to patiently wait with love for His return, promising to take us with Him into eternal life. How do you want it to look when He returns? Will we be waiting patiently, happily playing, sharing and making beautiful things with His gifts or will we have succumbed to impatience, fighting in anger and chaos with His gifts strewn everywhere, broken and defiled?