From the Pastor’s Heart

A few days ago I was reminded of something I do not like. I call it unproductive waiting. Now there are times when waiting is never an issue. I can sit all day at the hospital with parishoners as we wait for loved ones to come out of surgery. I can sit up and wait all night long with a grieving family who is in need of comfort and support. But when it comes to waiting in line or waiting in traffic I find myself becoming anxious. As my girls often say, “Daddy doesn’t like to be inconvenienced.”

My reminder occurred when I walked into the dentist office and found four people ahead of me sitting and waiting to see the dentist. I breathed a sigh of disappointment when I realized I would have to sit and wait too. I looked at my watch. I wondered how long the wait would be. I didn’t have time to just sit and wait. I thought to myself; I will wait 15 minutes and then I am going to the window and inform the receptionist that I had a 12:30 pm appointment and inquire of the delay. I needed to let them know I wasn’t happy. It wasn’t long before a 5th patient entered the door and joined us in the waiting room. He was an elderly gentleman using a walker for mobility. He was a pleasant chap as he engaged the rest of us in conversation. You can only imagine my dismay when the dentist, himself appeared in the doorway and invited the elderly man to come back to his office. My first thought was; hey, wait a minute, this isn’t fair. I was here before him. Where is the justice in all of this?

Well, waiting is part of learning what we call patience. I find myself praying the old prayer; “Lord, give me patience – and hurry!

Have you ever found yourself short on patience? The other day I was in the parking lot of Giant Eagle and I saw a young mother pushing her grocery cart full of groceries to her car. She was parked behind me. She had two children with her. A little boy about the age of four was walking beside her and the little fellow in the cart was a Down’s syndrome child who appeared to be about two. He was yelling and making a fuss. As I was walking I heard the mother say: “Shut up! Just shut up! I can’t take anymore.” And with that she began to sob! Obviously her patience had worn thin. My first thought was to go to her but thought perhaps I would be invading her privacy. I think I should have gone with my first instinct and gone to her and offer some words of understanding, reassurance and hope.

Patience is difficult sometimes, isn’t it? Patience is an important quality in people. I looked in the Bible and there are 49 references to patience, patient, patiently.
In the book of Hebrews there is a fascinating phrase. The writer says, “…let us run with patience the race that is set before us, our eyes fixed on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” I know from when I ran marathons what it means to run with patience. I would need to pace myself, stopping at the water spots, and walking short distances when necessary so that I would be able to finish the race. I know a number of people who started marathons but had to drop out because they simply could not go on.

Life is like a long distance marathon, calling for good conditioning, proper strategy, and great endurance. Mental, physical, and spiritual preparation is as important as running the race itself. Running with patience means keeping a long-range strategy in order to prevent burning out on the course.

When it comes to trials and tribulations we speak of the patience of Job. Job lost everything. He lost his cattle, his children and even his health. Suddenly he is cast from the heights of affluence and success to the depths of misery and despair. He kept running his course with patience, even when it appeared that there was little left to live for. But when the fog lifted, he was still on target. And we read, “So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job, more than his beginning…” Job died at the age of 140 years, “being old and full of days.”

It has been said that patience is a wise teacher. Quaint though it may sound, it is nevertheless true. I believe the most lasting patience of all is patience that is rooted in the promises of God.

Jewish psychiatrist Victor Frankl tells of his experience in a Nazi concentration camp. When he was arrested he was stripped of everything—property, family, possessions. The Nazis even forced the prisoners to give up their clothes. Frankl had spent years researching and writing a book. His manuscript, which he had hidden in the lining of his coat, was taken away. He inherited the worn out rags of another inmate who had been sent to the gas chamber. Said Frankl: “Instead of the many pages of my manuscript, I found in the pocket of the newly acquired coat a single page torn out of a Hebrew prayer book, which contained the Shema, the daily Jewish prayer. That is the prayer that we recently studied in Bible study: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one God. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your might.” Finding this page torn from a Jewish prayer book was the turning point for Victor Frankl. It gave him the strength to go on.

Many people over the past two thousand years have found that their faith gave them the ability to be patient under trying circumstances. The most lasting patience of all is patience rooted in the promises of God. My prayer for me and for you is the gift of patience ,so that whatever we must deal with in the marathon called life we always know that we are not orphaned, God is with us! Trusting God will give us what we need as we need it!

Blessings for peace and patience,

Pastor Russel