Some Words about Waiting

Sometimes it seems as though I spend half my life waiting. As a child I was always waiting for school to start or waiting for summer break. I waited for Christmas, I waited to drive, and I couldn't wait to grow up. As an adult it's been more of the same - waiting to get a job, waiting in a line at the bank or post office, waiting in a doctor's office or a hospital room, waiting at the airport ...you get the picture. Here are some words on waiting.

First let's state three facts. One, we all have to wait. Only God can "speak and make it so" the rest of us have to get in line with the everybody else. Second, although it sometimes seems otherwise, life always comes at us one moment at a time. Life doesn't come to us in clumps; the past is always the past and the future is always the future. There is only now. Third, no one likes to wait. Today as you go about your business be observant. Look around you at the faces when you're in line at Wal-Mart, or in the waiting room, or at the gas pump. There's a direct correlation between frowns, furrowed brows and waiting.

Next, let me offer a solution. Technically, we are all waiting on something: our next heartbeat, our next meal, our next task, right on to the end of our life. At the same time we only feel like we're waiting when we consciously place undue weight in thought or action towards some future event. Stated another way, you're really only waiting if you're thinking about what you're going to do later (see the doctor) instead of totally investing yourself in what you are actually doing at the moment (reading a very old magazine in that doctor's office). That may sound totally obvious - but if it is, then why do we waste so much of our time waiting?

The key to not being consumed by the feeling of waiting is to fully inhabit the present. Don't dwell on the future, but live in the present moment instead. That's why we all say, "I was busy today, but I'm glad I was because it made the day fly by." Time does indeed fly - and life becomes more enjoyable - and we get in the flow, or the zone or whatever you want to call it. And that can only happen if we are truly present in the now and let the future take care of itself.

Those who profess faith in God have an advantage here by the way. That's what Carlo Carretto means when he says, "God comes like the sun in the morning - when it is time. We must assume an attitude of waiting, accepting the fact that we are creatures and not the creator...we are able to initiate nothing; we are only able to accept...only God can create history...we carry it out through our response, but the inspiration, the design, and the strength to carry it out come from God." The Bible affirms this by exhorting us to "wait upon the Lord." This is not the "waiting room - standing in line" kind of waiting - this is the "getting on with life, knowing - trusting that God is in control" kind of waiting; yielding our lives to him moment by moment.

I don't know what you're waiting for today. I've got quite a list of things myself. But you know what? Today I'm going to live in the moment and respond, minute by minute, with all the peace and love God provides.