Please Wait for Me (08/24/2024)

When I was learning to drive, my father told me up front that until I could parallel park a station wagon, I couldn’t have the car. If you know me, you have guessed that I mastered parallel parking. The small city in which I live has mostly parallel spaces downtown. But it also has very impatient drivers who don’t realize that drivers trying to parallel park are impacted negatively by cars trying to pass while they are backing into their spaces.  Last evening, it happened to me again. And I got frustrated as the impatient drivers whizzed past the front left bumper of my car as I attempted to back into the space. I found myself saying it out loud: “Please, wait for me.”

When we think about it, there are so many times and areas in our lives when our patience or lack of it can impact another’s ability to do what they need to do, what they feel called to do, what they are trying to do. Our willingness to give them what they need, time or space, can mean the difference between them succeeding or failing. Usually, what is required of us is quite minor. Can we put what we want in that moment on hold for another?

This journey isn’t just about reading scripture and sitting in a pew frequently. It’s about being who we are called to be. We are the daughters and sons of I AM. That means we are to be present to the moment and to those around us and with us. And it means recognizing the needs of those in our space, those beside us, those ahead of us. And out of love, it means giving the other what they need in the moment that is ours to give: time, patience, encouragement, loving kindness.

This lesson isn’t just for driving or traffic situations. This lesson is for all of life and for all moments along the way.

In this era of fast food and instant gratification, let us be among those who recognize the importance of patience. Let us be willing to give to the other what we ourselves would want and need in a similar situation. It is our commandment: do onto others as you would have them do unto you.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.