As you are reading this my guess is that, if you have small children, you have said or heard the word “Wait”—a lot today—this being Christmas Eve; It is extremely difficult for a small child to “Wait for Santa Claus…” Wait usually gets bummy reviews…as in wait in traffic, wait for your turn, wait for your flight, and of course, wait for Santa Claus. Ask almost anyone about waiting and you’re likely to get a negative report. But there can be much positive around waiting. Attitude, expectations, and hope play a large role in what it means to wait.
One Christmas Eve, when our daughters were pre-school age, they wouldn’t go to sleep—waiting for Santa Claus. Finally, I sneaked outside and ran around the house jingling bells. They heard the bells and raced to bed (“and covered up their heads.”) As they grew up, I experienced a great deal of “wait time”. Knowing that I would have wait time, I always had a book with me; band practice, swimming practice, whatever activity they were involved in; to wait was “one of the fleas that came with the dog.” And, when I was working on my doctorate, I welcomed the opportunity to wait—I could read—uninterrupted, while waiting.
There are other times to wait; for example—in an anxious time; waiting in a doctor’s office or hospital waiting room puts a different complexion on waiting. Whether waiting with a friend or family member it is an anxious time. But such waiting is very important; it is a time for being present which is seldom time wasted. The content of conversation at such times matters very little. It is the fact that your presence matters, and will be remembered.
Sometimes to wait is to clarify, or learn more about circumstances. I think of that dramatic angelic visit to the Virgin Mary—likely in the night. Was it a dream? Apparently not. For Mary entered into a conversation with the Angel; No. More than that; when the angel gave Mary the news of Jesus’ birth, Mary interrupted the angel, She said, “Wait! What is this news you’re telling me!? Don’t you understand? That’s not the way things work here on earth?” (RWV Revised Willis Version.) How shocking the news must have been!
After waiting, absorbing the impact of that news, Mary committed herself—for the duration. And what a duration it was! Sometimes waiting can be transformative; a whole wonderful new world can open up. It is rather simple, isn’t it? Bakers know this; when all the ingredients are mixed properly, the oven is set correctly, there is a time of waiting; The delicious result is always worth it!
I do not always wait as patiently as old Simeon in the Temple did. For years he had waited for God’s light to the nations. He trusted God. All those years, he had waited patiently, and listened expectantly for the Spirit of God to guide him. Then, on the day, as the law required, the baby Jesus’ parents brought him to the temple; old Simeon was there. Now his waiting was over. He prayed a prayer of thanks to God now that he had seen that light to the nations God promised. He felt God release him from his holy vigil. It is a genuine blessing when waiting reaps remarkable rewards.