Waiting is Not Easy

Mo Williems is one of our favorite authors and we are big Elephant and Piggie fans, but this is not one of our favorites because Waiting Is Not Easy! In the book Gerald is waiting for a surprise and Piggie has guaranteed it’s going to be a good surprise and that Gerald is going to love it. He just has to wait for the surprise, but Gerald doesn’t want to wait. He wants the surprise now. Why, he insists, must he wait?

For 40 long days, we have kept our ears open for the whisper of the still, small voice of the divine. We have kept our eyes open for evidence of the divine working in the world. We have disciplined ourselves in prayers of confession and acts of fasting. We have been waiting and waiting is not easy.

It would be easy  to rush through this week, this Holy Week, we have been waiting on in order to get to the celebration of resurrection, of new life.

But let’s wait.

Let’s wait and watch and listen and wonder and follow the footsteps of Christ.

Let’s wait just a little bit longer because maybe in the waiting, we remind ourselves that following after Christ isn’t about knowing for sure what new life looks like. Maybe in the waiting, we remind ourselves that although we know the story, there could be something we have missed as we have rushed through Jesus’ suffering in years past. Maybe in the waiting, we will find the answers to the prayers we have been praying for those we love and for ourselves.

Waiting isn’t easy, but maybe waiting puts us squarely in the path Jesus walked. Waiting reminds us of of the journey to the cross. Waiting reminds us that this Holy Week isn’t about what we need, but about what the world and the kingdom of God needs from us.