Beloved Epiphany friends–

We’ve had a lot of experience with needing patience over the past year and a half, haven’t we? I can recall the early days of the pandemic, when we expected that we’d definitely be back into our normal practices by Easter, 2020. And then it became evident that this would not happen, and we had to be patient, seeking other markers that we would be able to worship and share fellowship together. That didn’t happen quickly either. More patience required, darn it! And then we learned more than we ever wanted to know about Zoom and streaming worship services, and how to bring the technologically challenged among us on board with a new way of being church, and it was slow, and we wanted it to merely be a temporary path to shared worship…until it became clear that it would take longer still.

In the meantime, babies were born, beloved ones died, and we had to wait to baptize, to have memorial services, to see each other in person. 

Advent is truly a season when we reflect on the necessity of patience, waiting for our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, to come and live among us as a fully human and fully divine infant. How do we approach the notion of patience when the whole of the past year and a half have been exercises in patience? We could be forgiven for thinking, “enough with the patience thing! I want what I want NOW!”

This has been a time of patience in so many ways, and while we are not fully back to our past practices, we are cautiously looking forward to a new normal, given the improvements in the case numbers. So what does patience – the patience that Advent reminds us of – look like these days? 

I’d suggest that we’ve seen patience in action, we’ve lived into that, and we may have discovered some gifts of our experience.

This week, let us consider the gift of deferred gratification, which reminds us that waiting for a good thing may make its arrival that much the sweeter. Anyone who’s waited for a college acceptance letter, or for a promotion on the job that seems overdue, or for a green card as a path to citizenship, or for a baby to FINALLY be born, knows what I’m talking about here. While it is true that not all of our hopes come to fruition, there are many that do. Even when it is fairly certain that some is going to happen that we long for, we still wish it would happen sooner. 

But just as a loaf of bread must take its appointed time in the oven before it is ready to be pulled out…and then we have to wait for it to cool before we slice it, we discover that the time it takes is not only technically necessary, it also heightens our pleasure when we finally have a slice in our hands, with some butter and jam on it. 

Those who will finally be able to have Thanksgiving with family members this year after a season of safety-required separation know that feeling of joy that is elevated. Perhaps in the past this holiday was a source of family tension (Will Uncle Fred share his political views after his second drink, necessitating some pronouncement that politics is off limits? Will we hear way too much about Grandma’s latest medical procedure?)

This time, I expect, even the difficult parts will fade because the shining light of family together after that separation is so very precious. 

Let’s remember that sense of joy in deferred gratification even after this season has passed. There’s something so grace-filled about looking for the good that comes after a long wait that required us to be patient. Not perfect, but good, and it’s a gift.

Be blessed and be a blessing,

Mary+