Of Longing and Waiting
It wasn’t that long ago that fathers were relegated to the “waiting room” while their wives gave birth to a baby. They waited with expectation of the news of a new daughter or son. Waiting usually means remaining in one place. Most often this is a physical activity. There are times though when this waiting is spiritual, mental, and emotional. Sometimes we must wait for the right time to ask a question, enter a business deal, or even sense the presence of the Holy Spirit. Waiting allows enough space for the circumstances and our own temperament to become aligned. Refusing to wait, our premature actions often lead to failed dreams and plans. It is like not allowing time for the glue to harden, the cake to bake, or the fruit to ripen. Waiting takes discipline, and it also takes hope and faith that our expectations will become reality – that at the right time the Word will become Flesh.
Longing is not waiting; however, it often accompanies our waiting. Longing is a yearning, an aching for something. I imagine there are many grandparents longing for the time to see and hug their grandchildren. The Covid virus has made us wait and long for love and human touch. Our faith tradition and Scripture speak of our soul longing for our Lord and waiting in God’s time – not ours. This is wisdom. It is also a glimpse. I have experienced and known both waiting and longing. And within that time of longing and waiting I was in Christ, in that holy space of already and not yet. I think of the time holding vigil, waiting for my parents to die and longing for their pain to end. Prayer and suffering are the cousins of longing and waiting. I think that the glimpse that longing and waiting give us is the heart and mind of God. It is Jesus, going off to pray, being tested in the wilderness, longing for the Disciples to “get it,” for the blind to see and the lame to walk, for the Pharisees to soften their hearts, and for love to conquer evil and hate.
As 2020 comes to a close, what are we the church – the Body of Christ – longing and waiting for? What are we praying and willing to suffer for? May our answers provide the world a glimpse of God’s love for them.