Waiting in Line

How patient are you?

For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. - Colossians 1:9-12

In today’s reading we are told to prepare to endure everything with patience.  And not only that, but to joyfully thank God for all we endure.

I have a good deal of patience.  I can wait in a line for hours without showing the world that I am struggling with the situation.  That doesn’t mean I find the experience pleasant, nor am I eager to thank God for having me wait.

I am not that filled with spiritual wisdom and understanding.

I guess I fail to see God’s will in it, especially if I can see or hear the cause of the delay.  That, I think, is the real test of our endurance, when we know there is someone holding up the line.

I can deal with emergencies and other rational explanations, but I find my patience weaken when the source of the delay is someone who failed to follow the instructions given or who is just plain rude or ignorant.

I immediately see those people as fruitless trees ripe for cutting down.

Of course, that is not how I am supposed to act, so I keep quiet and put my thoughts elsewhere, until I hear someone else complain about the delay.  Then I jump in and agree, all the while trying to remain calm and carry on.

Patience is an art and an act of kindness, if endured with love.  When there is little or no love in the endeavor, it is not patience but something else altogether.  

It is penance.  Somewhere along the line I have done something wrong and deserve to feel the pain I experience.  

If I truly feel that way, then I can see God’s hand in it.  And I should be able to thank God for reminding me that I am worthy of repair.

So, today I will look to be patient with love in my heart, imagining every delay as valid and necessary to help someone in need, rather than seeing each as an act of stupidity.  Nor will I assume it is all about me.  

I just happened to pick the wrong line.  And there is wisdom in that, I think.  

Perhaps while I am waiting in line, I can contemplate the meaning of it all and become wise.

More to come...