Wednesday Wonder – October 2, 2024

Waiting.

Most of us do it every day. We wait for the coffee maker to finish (something I do with very little patience) or the kettle to boil for our morning cuppa. We drive to work and wait in traffic or at the lights. We have an appointment and sit in the aptly named ‘waiting room’. We go to the bank or the post office and we wait in line. We wait in the checkout line at the grocery store. Even when we don’t leave the house to shop, we wait with baited breath for the delivery. Sometimes it even comes the same day! But even that waiting can be hard enough.

I am writing this as I wait. I have read part of a book. I have chatted with everyone in the waiting room with me. I have played games on my phone, and still I wait while the lab works on the results.

Waiting is part of life. Not necessarily a part any of us enjoy. So it often feels like wasted time, or more importantly, to the workaholics among us, time we could have been working but couldn’t. But does it have to feel like wasted time?

I love to people watch. Waiting allows that. What I observe is that people are visiting with the person they are with, they are talking to the person next to them even if they are a stranger like me (I said stranger, not strange), some are just keeping their head down and focused on their phone, perhaps trying to get a little alone time in the midst of people. Or trying to get a little work done on these handy electronic devices. No matter where we are waiting these things, or some variation of them, are happening.

Some faces are happy, some are not. These days some faces are covered in masks and others are not. Smiles are harder to offer with a mask on, but, for me, offering a smile is just second nature. It makes me feel good while I wait. My hope is it makes waiting a little nicer for others. Hopefully, someone will do the same for me.

Waiting gives us the opportunity to stop and look around. To stop and take a deep breath. This is where we need to be and we can just ‘be’ as we wait. No pulls on us from others for a few minutes. Yes, I recognize the irony of writing this as I wait.

Sometimes we can’t allow ourselves to just wait. Always a hard one for me. It is why I download books onto my phone. At least I can read something if I have to wait. But then, if I didn’t have something to read, I would just strike up a conversation. Waiting often allows me to make a new friend.

One caution about waiting. We often use waiting as an excuse. We say we have to wait for the perfect time to do something. Once this happens, then I can do that, I have to wait until then. There is never a perfect time. And if this past year has taught me anything, it is that sometimes we wait too long to do something. I know many books get written in short bursts of time or word count. Someone thought they needed to wait until… Then they committed to doing just a little every day and, lo and behold, a first draft of a book was done. I have been working on a blanket for Damon since before he was born. Doing it in what my mom would have called ‘fits and starts’. Wasn’t making much progress. Then, I committed to stitching two pre-cut strands each day. Blanket is now almost done. Did I do it everyday? Every day I felt well enough. But I had been putting it off until… and nothing was getting done. Waiting can be an opportunity or it can be an impediment. Our choice.

Waiting, it is inevitable. It does not have to feel like wasted time. Embrace the waiting. It is time to yourself you might not normally get. A little oasis of calm in what can often be a chaotic world.

Remember, even God waited on the sabbath. And God has been waiting for us to use our time ever since. Let’s keep creating with God, even while we wait.

Peace,
Rev. Mary-Jane