In the Waiting

James writes to the early Christian community: “Be patient, therefore, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.” (James 5:7-8)

That’s easier said than done, isn’t it?  

Be patient…

It’s interesting. Almost every major philosophical and faith tradition teaches patience. Why is that? Where is the value in it?

In the Buddhist tradition, there are people known as Bodhisattvas. A Bodhisattva is someone who has been enlightened, and who has chosen to be a spiritual teacher for others. The only caveat is that ordinary people can’t tell who is a Bodhisattva and who is not. It could be anybody.

So in our family, we have kind of a running jest, that the difficult people in our lives are our Bodhisattvas. They are here to teach us humility, patience, and love… While it is kind of funny to think about that super slow clerk in the supermarket, holding up the entire checkout line, as a teacher, at the same time, it is a reminder that as difficult as this moment in time might be, there is something to be learned. Perhaps there is a deeper happening.

James says: “The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains…” The seed is there. And while we can’t see what is happening, clearly something is…

Perhaps there is inner work that is being done. Perhaps the waiting is opening up other opportunities… Maybe there is something I’m supposed to receive, or something I’m supposed to do for others. Maybe this interruption, this delay is actually a gift…

Korean American pastor and writer Joshua Kang claims that patience is a prerequisite for peace – inner peace – but not just that. He writes, “People who have patience lack nothing. People who have patience have everything.”

In your waiting, may you trust that something deeper, perhaps something imperceivable or yet undetected is at work in you. May you look for the opportunities that present themselves – opportunities for connection, for giving, for receiving – that abound in the waiting. And may your patience develop in you an inner strength and reserve.

Let us pray: Grant us peace in our waiting, O God. Strengthen our hearts and help us trust that you are near – even now. Amen.