Expecting Shade from a Seed
Practicing Awareness of Our Impatience
Reflection By Robbin Brent
The wisdom of the humble seed teaches that patience is not about the thing we urgently want to hurry up and happen. Patience is about growth.
- Lisa Senuta
The Mind quadrant of the Living Compass Model of Well-Being focuses on Vocation and Organization. By vocation, we mean having a clear sense of meaning and purpose in all that we do. This may include work, but it is much more than that. Organization focuses on the decisions we make regarding our time, money, priorities, and possessions.
Yet, despite our best intentions, all of the distractions competing for our time, attention, and energy can challenge our ability to maintain a clear sense of our deepest purpose and meaning. We can lose sight of what we value, of what is worth waiting for. We may plant a seed and then wonder impatiently why the seed isn’t already providing shade and shelter. As Lisa Senuta wrote in her Sunday reflection, Advent offers us an opportunity to remember that patience is about growth, not simply about the things we are in a hurry to have or to happen.
When we forget to turn first to God with our questions and desires, it is easy to become impatient, with ourselves, with others, and with God. Perhaps we could use our impatience as a way to recognize when we are getting ahead of ourselves and ahead of God’s timing for our lives.
Making It Personal: Do you ever find yourself feeling impatient with God’s timing? How might you practice being more patient with the “seeds” you, with God’s help, have planted? How might prayer help you to be more trusting and patient?
TO JOIN OUR PRIVATE FACEBOOK DISCUSSION GROUP FOR ADVENT, CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW:
Follow along with us this Advent season with our daily devotional and engage in discussion in our closed facebook group moderated by Robbin Brent, Carolyn Karl, Jan Kwiatowski, and Scott Stoner.
In this group, participants will have a chance to share their responses to the prompts in the daily readings, and also the chance to receive additional material for reflection.