Tuesday, 5th Week: Patience Is Suffering Through The Present

"The people spoke against God and against Moses: "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food." Numbers 21:5

How do we wait for God? We wait with patience. But patience does not mean passivity. Waiting patiently is not like waiting for the bus to come, the rain to stop, or the sun to rise. It is an active waiting in which we live the present moment to the full in order to find there the signs of the One we are waiting for.

The word patience comes from the Latin verb patior, which means "to suffer." Waiting patiently is suffering through the present moment, tasting it to the full, and letting the seeds that are sown in the ground in which we stand grow into strong plants. Waiting patiently always means paying attention to what is happening right before our eyes and seeing there the first rays of God's glorious coming.

"O God, when even trivial delays -- missing a stop light or getting in a slow line -- irritate me, I realize how much I need to learn patience.
Help me to make all my waiting a waiting for you."

Henri Nouwen