Thursday, January 05, 2012

Patience


From my man Henri Nouwen:

Patience is a hard discipline. It is not just waiting until something happens over which we have no control: the arrival of the bus, the end of the rain, the return of a friend, the resolution of a conflict. Patience is not a waiting passivity until someone else does something.

Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later and somewhere else.

Let's be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand.

1 comment:

Jason Petty said...

The way Henri describes it shows that impatience is really a sub-characteristic of selfishness. When my world centers around myself, nothing goes right until it goes "my way". We walk around in circles worrying, griping, and waiting for someone to rescue us. All that selfish circle-walking becomes self-destructive and we dig our own grave.

I speak from recent experience. Thank God for his Holy Spirit who showed me my behavior from His perspective! Back on track :)