“Blessed are all who wait for the Lord!” (Psalm refrain for today’s liturgy)
Recently I echoed in this blog the question of one of our Sisters who asked repeatedly: What are we waiting for? I was surprised when I put that question to myself just now and was greeted by several responses. The big things like: I’m waiting for the pandemic to cease, for a vaccine that stems the tide of deaths, for an end to racial violence in our country. I’m waiting as well for January 20th, Inauguration Day in our country when a sense of stability might return to us…slowly but surely. In a more personal way, I’m waiting for someone to hug me—safely. I’m waiting to go to a celebratory liturgy in a real—not virtual—church, and the privilege of travel to meet my cousin Molly’s new twin girls, born this past week.
I could go on…but each of us has our thoughts on that subject. The tension, sadness or frustration that can arise when contemplating this kind of thinking comes partially, I think, from the helplessness we feel because of our inability to change the situations. We are unable to change any of the things mentioned and many more. In our country, as in many places in today’s world, we are not schooled to patience. It is not in our make-up any more to wait because waiting implies surrender and that is not the American way.
What would it cost you today to surrender to “what is” and allow God to work with your helplessness? Might you get to a place of willingness? A place where you let go of your plans and move toward something deeper? lighter?