Wait please!
In an info-tech world, this seems to be an annoying request.
Yet without learning to wait, we cannot be prepared to receive the beautiful things of life.
Once the sun has set and the night falls, we have to wait if we wish to see the dawn.
A pregnant woman has to wait for nine months to bring forth her baby.
A farmer too has to wait for the seeds sown to sprout.
In case of a fracture, we have to wait for healing and so on…
Waiting, though tough, is a necessary discipline and a doorway to embrace beautiful things in life.
Every year the season of Advent comes to remind us of this truth.
Learning to wait calls for attentiveness to simple daily miracles that happen around us.
In other words, for St. Ignatius, it is the Contemplation of Divine Love:
“I will ponder with great affection how much God our Lord has done for me,
and how much He has given me of what He possesses…
how God dwells in creatures: in the elements giving them existence, in the plants giving them life,
in the animals conferring upon them sensation…
how God works and labors for me in all creatures upon the face of the earth,
that is, He conducts Himself as one who labors.
Thus, in the heavens, the elements, the plants, the fruits, the cattle, etc.,
He gives being, conserves them, confers life and sensation…
This is to consider all blessings and gifts as descending from above” (SE 234–237).
Come on all, let us grab once more this Advent,
and slow down a bit from the fret and frenzy of our daily schedules
and train ourselves to see anew and receive the gift God is preparing for us at Christmas.
