Trust in the Slow Work of God
Practicing Patience with Others
Reflection By Robbin Brent
As spring and summer follow ... winter, so our lives have seasons. Help us to live in the eternal moment, awaiting your perfect timing in all things.
- Nan Merrill, from Psalm 105, Psalms for Praying
In the Introduction, Scott Stoner shared a line from a well-known prayer of Teilhard de Chardin, a French priest, scientist, and theologian: “Trust in the slow work of God.” I’d like to share a bit more of this prayer in which Teilhard describes beautifully the struggle with patience that many of us face this time of year.
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.
- Teilhard de Chardin, from Hearts on Fire
During this busy season, many of us are not at our most patient. As we are pulled in so many different directions, we can be quick to anger or feel annoyed by the demands of others. These feelings often come as a result of our inability to remain true to what we think and say we value. When our actions are out of alignment with our thoughts and what we say we value, it is easy to feel anxious, irritable, and frustrated, especially with those we are close to.
When we experience a lack of patience, it can be helpful and healing to remember that we can trust God’s timing in all things.
Making It Personal: What is your response to Teilhard’s prayer about the challenge of trusting in God’s timing? What practices do you find helpful in being able to be more patient, to more deeply trust God?
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.