Waiting is The Hardest Part

Part of the human drama is having to wait.  Whether it's to see if you get into the college of your choice, if you got a spot on your school's baseball team, if you're going to get the job you've just interviewed for, or for test results, the process of waiting is never easy.

Most of the time we complain that time flies by.  We ask ourselves, "Where did the years go?", or we reflect that "It seems like yesterday...".   And we wish we could slow down the clock.  Except, that is, when we are in that interminable "wait" mode.  Then time seems to crawl.  And waiting can be sheer torture.

So how do we endure it time and time again?  It has to do with a virtue called patience combined with a gift known as faith.  Whether we are aware of it or not, both are present in every one of us to some degree.  They are among those qualities that are uniquely human.  No matter what your religious affiliation or your personal creed, you can't deny that there is something that sets us apart from the rest of creation.  And besides our seemingly limitless creativity, when we draw on our faith and exercise patience, we are exhibiting qualities that only we humans possess.  After all, we are made in the image of a creative, intelligent, and patient Being. 

Now, when I am low on patience and need a boost of faith, I find comfort in the words of wisdom compiled in the letters of encouragement that St. Paul wrote to the various churches who were undergoing struggles and/or persecution in the first century A.D.  His letters are often beautiful reminders of what I know instinctively to be true.  And I feel like every word he wrote could apply to this time, to this place, to me...

In probably my favorite of his letters, Paul tells us to "be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, (and) faithful in prayer."  (Romans 12:12).  These 3 concepts are not merely random sentence fragments.  But, logically, they do appear to be in backwards order.  I see it like this:  If we pray with faith when we are going through a difficult time, we are given hope.  And when we have hope, that painful impatience we feel is replaced with a sense of joy that doesn't seem to make sense.  Yet we feel it all the same.  I don't know about you, but I find comfort in that reality.  Waiting is indeed hard, but it doesn't have to wear us down.

Anyway, tonight we went to dinner at Moe's as a fundraiser for my son's baseball team.  Moe's is a Mexican fast food sort of place that does offer some healthy options.  I had a vegetarian bean burrito with black beans, rice, lettuce, tomatoe, salsa, and a bit of guacamole.  (I had them "hold" the cheese and sour cream and it was good!). 

I hope you are all having a great week.  Until next time, happy and healthy eating!