Does anybody really like waiting? Who really enjoys waiting for the package we ordered on Amazon in the mail? Who really enjoys waiting in that horrible Wal-Mart line? Who ever says, "Man, I just wish I could wait a little bit longer in this doctor's office"? No one. At least not that I'm aware of. And not me, that is for dang sure.
We live in a culture where our coffee gets handed to us in mere minutes. We can order our groceries on-line so it cuts down our waiting time. Our fries come piping hot in two seconds. And we rack up debt so we can have that new iPad NOW.
We hate waiting. And I'm convinced it's not only American culture, but the human condition.
And why do we hate waiting? I think it's because it reminds us that we are not in control. It reminds us that there is something (or someone) bigger than us who's calling the shots, and we are powerless. We feel helpless while we wait.
I'm a dreamer. And I'm in waiting. Those two can feel like two very opposing things. And there is a tension that wars deep at the core.
Committed to living in that tension, rather than manipulating my own control over waiting, I have found Lewis Smedes' words sweet and exhorting: "Waiting is our destiny. As creatures who cannot, by themselves, bring about what they hope for, we wait in the darkness for a flame we cannot light. We wait in fear for a happy ending that we cannot write. We wait for a 'not yet' that feels like a 'not ever.'"
I want to wait. And I want to wait well.
How have you found to wait well?
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