The
mother of expectation is patience. The French author Simone Weil writes
in her notebooks: “Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation
of the spiritual life.” Without patience our expectation degenerates
into wishful thinking. Patience comes from the word patior, which means
“to suffer.” The first thing that Jesus promises is suffering: “I tell
you . . . you will be weeping and wailing . . . and you will be
sorrowful.” But he calls these birth pains. And so, what seems a
hindrance becomes a way; what seems an obstacle becomes a door; what
seems a misfit becomes a cornerstone. Jesus changes our history from a
random series of sad incidents and accidents into a constant opportunity
for a change of heart. To wait patiently, therefore, means to allow our
weeping and wailing to become the purifying preparation by which we are
made ready to receive the joy that is promised to us.
Henri Nouwen
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