Waiting, Part 1

The waiting is the hardest part

Every day you get one more yard

You take it on faith, you take it to the heart

The waiting is the hardest part

"The Waiting" Tom Petty

The other night I was looking through our DVD's for something to watch and I noticed the gleaming silver tin that contains eight, yes eight Christmas classics. Or at least the box says that all eight are classics. There are a couple that look like fill to me, but the point is its June and I can, if I wish, watch "Frosty the Snowman" or "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." No big deal, right? My kids don't think so. But it is. Oh, this is huge.

Back in December I was having a conversation with a twenty- something Kindergarten teacher. She had just popped in a copy of "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" for the children to watch (the animated version, mind you). In hushed tones we started talking and I mentioned that when I was a kid "The Grinch" and all those other Christmas shows came on once a year (I know, I felt like an old man just uttering the words "when I was a kid"). One time my Dad made us go to a family party and we missed "Rudolph." My siblings and I were devastated. It would be a whole year before we could see it again. But now, now I can watch it whenever I want. I don't have to wait, and neither do my children. This, dear reader, is earth shattering.

We live in an almost instant culture. My email get pushed to my phone so I don't have to wait. So do my Facebook messages and posts. I am connected to the Internet 24/7 (except at camp, which has, on a really good day, poor service). We have movies on demand, all sorts of quick to prepare food and "fast" food restaurants. We wait on very little. Which makes those times when we have to wait very difficult.

For ninety-nine percent of human history this has not been the case. Things happened at a much slower pace. Travel and communication took days and weeks. If food was not in season you had to wait. Waiting, while not easy, was a big part of life. And this spilled over into how people understood God. Waiting on God, while not easy, was also part of life. I was taught this as a child and keep hearing about it as an adult. "God's time is not our time." Jesus hung out in the desert for forty days waiting on God. The Israelites roamed around forty years before entering the promised land. Wait upon the Lord.

Why? Why do I have to wait? I call or text or email anyone, anytime I want. Why do I have to wait to talk to God?

This is, I think, a very important question for our age. Is the idea that we have to wait on God simply a product of a time and place in which people had to wait for everything? Does our understand of God need to change? Is it possible that God can and does communicate and act as fast as our technology? In short, are we done waiting on God?

Ponder this a bit, if you will. I will write more tomorrow (yes, I know, so ironic that I make you wait). In the meantime, if you wish, feel free to share your thoughts below. No rush. I'll wait.