Fr. Don's Daily Reflection - July 1, 2024
Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from you.”
Patience; patience, patience: the refrain of the doctor to me (I suspect also some of you) regarding a nagging and seemingly ‘eternal’ health issue. I suppose many another patient (that word again in another form) has been told the same by his/her physician. And anyone of us may feel unique in this regard. I will argue that there is a unique aspect to the advice in my case.
Several years ago, an elderly confrère, let’s call him Julian, said to me about a book I had published: “I noticed there was nothing about patience in your book.” I responded: “I knew enough not to write about something so foreign to my behavior.” Sure, I know enough to wait my turn at the buffet. (There is enough hustle at the buffet for some to call it the “trough”.) I wait for my breakfast to be served while the attendant takes care of others. And besides, I feel wistful and reflective at breakfast.
But there are so many instances of my impatience. For instance, someone is late for our ride to an appointment. Or, the server at the evening meal hasn’t noticed that we have run out of green beans. The person pouring a special drink is being distracted by a confrere’s joke. But I am not going to make a public show of every instance of my impatience. Trust me; I know more about impatience than I do about patience.
So what? Well, you might pray that I trust the physician when he says: patience, patience, patience. Pray that I learn more of a virtue so essential to any imitation of our Savior Jesus. Pray that I learn from visits to quadriplegics and permanently disabled alumni and friends. Patience, patience, patience.
Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”
