Silence and Action IX (Haas B)

We have waited in silence on your loving-kindness, O God ...

 - From Psalm 48

Are we there yet?

I'm bored.

I'm tired.

I'm hungry.

We recognize these declarations, common to a long family vacation by car. The older your child gets, the less likely you are to hear there protestations. Maturity brings with it the ability to entertain, or occupy, oneself. The young adult does not complain, as much, in these circumstances, but has a book to read, a playlist to enjoy, a movie to queue up. The older child can nap. 

Or the best option yet: Simple enjoy the passing countryside . . . take in every detail. Even a two-hour stretch through Nebraska is fascinating, if one is mature. 

The Millennial Generation can't wait for anything. And yet, the ultimate solution to our most dangerous problems is patience. 

Silence, and waiting. 

Our culture does not value the delay of gratification. Therefore, we get angry young men that cannot wait for someone to make them happy . . . so they engage the ultimate quick fix of removing others.

We are so impatient that the aging process scares us. Our eternal bearings are not sound, so the end of life strikes us as a desperate, frightful prospect. We urgently try to renew our youth, through divorce, substance abuse, and the continual preparation for the next holiday.

We so undervalue the ultimate virtue of patience, that when it is the most needful thing in society, our celebrities exhort us "We want action!!" And receive thunderous applause. 

He also serves who only sits and waits.

I remember a co-worker: a particularly strung out and strung up, wound-up, chain smoking thrice divorcee. As a deadline loomed and she was signaling her own mastery of what's "realistic," would sardonically boast "Patience is a virtue." The expected response, which others were always too ready to satisfy, was "No, Linda . . . you have a right not to be patient now," "accompanied by feigned, awkward laughter. 

Patience is a virtue. And yes a majority of people probably love mocking the idea. But the road to eternity is straight and narrow, and few find it. 

The lonely path to Truth, Justice, Mercy, and Love gets narrower and narrower. But the person that has reached full actualization is a perfectly patient person. 

Enough noise. Enough reactionary actions. 

We need silence, and patience, and waiting. And we need to be okay with that.