Wait for It

Time has gone a little wonky in 2020. Since March, we’ve all experienced differing phases of lockdown. Events are postponed. We’re told to wait. Wait for the numbers to dip before going out. Wait for a vaccine before resuming public life.

Last week was even more waiting. Wait for the votes to be counted. Wait for the call to be made. Wait for our future to be declared. The country waited, if impatiently. Sleepless nights. Doom scrolling. Constant text messages from our pandemic isolations. Any news? Any signs? Praying for the best; bracing for the worse. Trying to keep up hope without getting our hopes up. No deadline. Perpetual March. Perpetual Tuesday.

It’s been a test of patience, prudence, and charity. Learning to live in the waiting and appreciate the wait. Working to do the right thing at the right time. Trying to love those who oppose you, who refuse the wait, and who work actively against the common good.

Advent begins in a few weeks, but this whole year has been an advent. Something is coming. We do not know the day or hour. But we must be patient. We must be ready.

The reading this past Sunday was the parable of the ten virgins. It reminds us to stay vigilant and ready. Something is coming. We can get fatigued in our exile. We can get turned off by the bombardment of distractions and lies. In the parable both the wise and foolish virgins fall asleep. That’s inevitable. But we must be prepared at all times so when we are called, we can wake up and answer. Change doesn’t come when we want it or when we expect it. Healing, justice, and the Messiah is coming. Just wait for it. 

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