Patient Trust
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ
Earlier this year I discovered the above reflection on waiting in patient trust. I have come back to it often throughout the year. In my seeking and attentiveness to God at work in my life, I tend to be pretty impatient with myself. At times, I have a hard time with unanswered questions and formation in process in my life. I’d much rather skip the waiting and just cut to the chase. So, as I am often uncertain where the stirrings of my heart, mind, and soul will lead, my desire is to seek and wait in a posture of “Patient Trust.” I think this patient trust is also good to remember in our relationships and accompaniment with others.
I appreciate your prayers for WMF Argentina. These remaining months of 2012, we are giving renewed attention to developing and coordinating new Argentine volunteers to serve alongside us in our relationships with the children and young adults. Please pray for volunteers, Silvia, Esteban and others, as they learn more about our ministry and establish relationships with our friends at Retiro.
Peace, david