Although we are not out of winter yet, the earth now begins to go through the shifting patterns of rain, sleet, and cold sunny days, signs of a spring sure to come. During these days of alternating weather patterns, the gardeners among us are looking at seed catalogs and some of us are even planting seeds indoors.
Patience doesn’t seem to be among our natural responses to life. We’re always trying to move to the next step, the next thing to be done rather than taking events in their stride. There are some things that require us to put patience aside, of course, such as injustice, hunger, poverty, climate change, to name a few.
Patience doesn’t mean we accept things as they are. Rather it means deliberation before action, assessing the situation before jumping in to correct it. Patience invites us to a prayerful attitude and thinking things through even as we work for change.
Prayer for the Day
Impatient, O God, we need to learn to trust in your grace,
For uncertainty bursts into our lives and we know not what to do;
The world around us seems to move so quickly
And we find ourselves caught in its swirl of events.
Help us to feel your presence in these times, O God,
So we may be truly present to each other,
In the name of the One who is your presence in our lives,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Darkness deserves gratitude. It is the alleluia point at which we learn to understand that all growth does not take place in the sunlight.
- Joan Chittister, OSB, writer
I am not a perfect servant. I am a public servant ding my best against the odds. As I develop and serve, be patient. God is not finished with me yet.
- Jesse Jackson, Civil rights activist and leader
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in God who will act.
God will make your vindication shine like the light,
And the justice of your cause like noonday.
Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for God;
Do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil.
Psalm 37: 5-7