Instant Gratification?

Above all, trust in the slow work of God
We are quite naturally impatient in everything

to reach the end without delay.

We would like to skip the intermediate stages.

We are impatient of being

on the way to something unknown,

something new.

And yet it is the law of all progress

that it is made by passing through

some stages of instability-

and that may take a very long time

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

I have been rather overwhelmed by all the responses to yesterday’s post on my blog (the second in the Advent series). Thank you to all who responded in one way or another. And thanks to Maggie for offering the quote from Teilhard (above). Very apt.

In the light of comments and responses I have decided to continue the theme and look a bit more at patience, which is one of the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ described by Paul in his letter to the Galatians. But in contemporary society we seem to be more focussed on instant gratification than on patience and perseverance. Indeed, in spite of patience being traditionally regarded as a holy virtue, amongst people of faith, there can seem to be a lack of patience and a demand that God acts now. However, I do not mean to be over critical, for in the midst of all the ‘stuff’ that has been and is going on for me/us at the moment I/we too have been very aware of the frustration of waiting and of (apparently) unanswered prayer and (as yet) unfulfilled promises. I can recognise too that the darker it is the brighter shine these little lights of hope that we have from time to time experienced. And in spite of the frustration that I have to honestly own up to, I also find that in the long waiting for an answer to prayer, a sign of direction or a clear revelation of God’s presence, there is (when I choose to pause and be silent and open) a sense of peace and presence.

And just maybe I am learning to be a little more patient.

As I have already suggested, waiting is not something we are used to in contemporary society where instant gratification, instant answers, instant access to information, instant entertainment are constantly and continually available to us.

If you pick something up from the supermarket for supper on your way home and pop it in the microwave, in the time it takes you to take off your coat, put on your slippers, set out the cutlery and open the wine, ‘PING’ it is ready. Then you can reach for your remote control, switch on the TV which instantly comes alive and choose a film from Netflix... all in a moment or two. It was not always like that!

Today almost everything seems instant and waiting is less a part of our daily lives than was once the case.

But not quite...

Expectant parents still wait 9 months for the birth of a child... just the same length of time as parents two hundred years ago... or two thousand years ago had to wait.

And whatever the perceptions as we get older, nonetheless the years do not actually pass any more quickly than they did before.

And we have to wait for the results of medical tests or exam results, for health to recover or for wounds to heal, for planted seeds to grow and relationships to develop.

There are many things for which we still have to wait... things for which it is worth waiting.

And it is worth waiting for Christmas. It is worth allowing this season of Advent to be what it is without having Christmas prematurely invade it. It is worth spending this time in anticipation and hope.

For in this waiting time of Advent we have a journey to undertake. As I said in an earlier post, on this journey of waiting we reflect upon the dark realities of our world, we ponder the as yet unfulfilled ancient promises of God’s Kingdom, we look and long and listen for the signs of the coming of this kingdom.

We wait for God’s purposes to prevail and for God’s promises to be fulfilled.

We wait for prayers to be answered and our longings satisfied.

We wait for justice in the earth and for peace between peoples.

We wait for the signs of dawn breaking, for the light of the Day of our redemption to penetrate the darkness.

In the waiting there can be anxiety and anguish, frustration and fear.

As I reflect upon the difficult experiences that have been faced by me and my family over recent months, I am constantly battling with all of this. Why have we had to wait to see a resolution to our difficulties?

Why are we not seeing the answers to prayer for which we long?

Why can we not find the guidance and assurance for which we have asked, and still ask, and go on asking?

I will confess (as I did in response to one friend who commented on yesterday’s post) that alongside all the other things (or because of?) I have been experiencing quite a deep crisis of faith... and yet I still have hope. No, I can’t explain that either. I am simply telling it as it is for me right now.

We wait and go on waiting for the promises to be fulfilled and God’s purpose to prevail... we wait in the midst of much that is distorted and dark in our world and in our lives... we wait knowing that in the waiting times, while there may be healing and growing, there can remain also anguish and pain. But we wait and we wait on... and even if faith is not always strong we can still (paradoxically?) wait with hope.

Advent is all about waiting.

Waiting with hope.

Not a distorted optimism, not superficial determination to always look on the bright side of life, not pretending that everything is alright… for everything (for me at least just now, and in the world around as I see it) is far from all right!

But we wait in hope that God’s purposes will finally prevail and God’s promise will finally be fulfilled.

Prayer, patience and perseverance.

Above all, trust in the slow work of God