Dear SCC & Friends,
Be patient… ~James 5:7
Reflection #178
Patience is the companion of wisdom. ~St. Augustine~ Every parent that has ever taken a road trip with their kids knows the query, “How much farther? Are we there yet?” And of course, the answer is, “Just a little bit longer.” Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and developed over a lifetime. It may be defined as the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. The virtue of patience has no arrival point, and if we think we have it, it can easily be misplaced or lost. We live in a world of technological hurry, goading us to get more done in less time… One of the great disadvantages of hurry is that it takes such a long time. ~G.K. Chesterton~ Patience is a path to maturity and offers no shortcuts. All too often, “We want patience, and we want it now.” There is an appointed time for everything… ~Ecc. 3:1 God’s timing is perfect, even in delay. …For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay. ~Hab. 2:3
Everyone feels benevolent if nothing happens to be annoying him at the moment. ~C.S. Lewis~ I’m reminded of the time I went to my cell-phone carrier to get my phone repaired. Once I arrived at the store, I waited thirty minutes to be told that I needed to use the designated “in-store phone” to call an “outside” customer service representative in another city. I then called “outside” customer service and after ten minutes on call waiting, I was referred back to the very store I was calling from… My patience had worn thin, so I interrupted the “in-store manager” who was engaged with other customers. I pressed him to get on the phone with the “outside” long-distance customer service manager, and watched as they haggled back and forth over jurisdiction and blame… The good news was that after much delay, my phone issue was finally resolved. The bad news was that on a “patience scale” of 1-10, I’d give myself “an iffy 3-4”. Patience is a byproduct of our impatience and learned through the many times we fall short… The Lord is in it all and uses it all. …for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. ~Philip. 2:13 We remain a work in progress… Keep up the good work!
Made for these days,
Kevin