I’ve been called impatient many times in my life. My family jokes that I was so impatient at birth that I arrived two months early.
Often at times I find myself in hurry-up-and-wait mode waiting for people, decisions, plans, clarity, justice, love.
The world doesn’t seem to move on my schedule, which is a good thing.
Advent, a liturgical time of waiting for the birth of Jesus Christ, is one of the few times that I embrace the beauty of anticipation as it pulls us into relationship with those near and far. It is a time to prepare our collective heart for the great bursting forth of love that the world received with the birth of Jesus.
In Romans 15:5-6 we read, “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
This passage reminds me that God is a patient God who waits for me to slow down and be in relationship.
God’s love is not revealed in a Lone-Ranger sprint but walking together with those around me and most especially those who are pushed to the margins of society.
It is in the shared journey, the carrying and sharing in each others’ joys and burdens that the Kingdom is revealed, even today, just as that star shone so bright over Bethlehem the night of Jesus’ birth.
Amy Woolam Echeverria is the International Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Coordinator for the Missionary Society of St Columban.
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