Welcome to Tuesday’s reflection.
Today I reflect on a familiar parable about ten bridesmaids, and the difference between giving up hope and learning to live while we wait.
If you enjoy these reflections, my new book, Hidden in Plain Sight, is now out. It explores the overlooked details, surprising questions and ordinary moments that can change how we see Scripture and faith.
It is now available in paperback and on Kindle in the UK, USA and all other markets.
Paul
I used to think of myself as an impatient person. In some ways, I guess I probably still am. When I decide I want to do something, or set my mind on having something, I want to get on with it straight away. As far as I’m concerned, the decision has been made, so why wait? Any delay feels unnecessary, and I can become frustrated quickly.
But there is another kind of waiting that I want to think about today. It has little to do with queues, deliveries or plans that take longer than expected. It is the waiting that becomes part of the bigger picture of our lives, when we hope for something, dream of something, or perhaps desperately need something to change.
The kind of waiting when we know life has to take its course and there is often very little we can do to influence the outcome. Sometimes we don’t even know what that outcome will be.
For me, the obvious example is chronic illness. I know I return to it regularly on these pages, and often wonder whether I do so too often. But waiting, hoping and longing for a cure occupied an enormous part of my life for years. I found myself thinking about possible treatments, improvements and what life might look like if something finally worked. The question of recovery was rarely far from my mind.
Of course, I still want a cure. That hasn’t changed, and I doubt it ever will. But something about the way I live with that hope has profoundly changed. I no longer spend my days wondering when things might improve or whether the next treatment will give me back the life I knew. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t stopped wanting to get better. I have just simply reached a point where waiting no longer occupies quite so much of my life.
That has left me with a question I keep returning to.
When we stop spending every day thinking about what we’re waiting for, have we given up hope, or have we simply learned how to live while we wait?
