Patience

A devotional booklet by Henri Nouwen called "Called to Live Called to Love." One of the lessons is on Patience and is one that many of us need to work on. Nouwen writes;

"Patience is a hard discipline. It is not just waiting until something happens over which we have no control: the arrival of the bus, the end of the rain, the return of a friend, the resolution of a conflict. Patience is not a waiting passivity until someone else does something. Patience ask us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient, we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later and somewhere else. Let's be paiten and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand.

I am in awe to think of patience as an active agent. The idea of patience has been to be passive and quiet while what ever happens. Active patience is to live fully for God in this moment. That is not standing by waiting it is moving forward in serving God even in the midst of those who are not. May God help us to  live graciously in the here and now.