For some, practicing patience is outmoded. No need to wait, just research the latest gadget on line, then click, and whatever is needed will be delivered to your front door. That works well for things but not for needs of the spirit; if ignored, distortions play havoc with relationships, fill waiting rooms of doctors, impair judgements, and cause accidents that result in chronic pain. It’s often been that way.

For the spiritually adept, however, life has a graced rhythm, with patience as key to the maturation of all cycles of life: human, animal, vegetation; even the solar system has its own laws.

A deeper look at this virtue is found in the Epistle of James (5: 7- 11) written between 45 – 50 CE, a reminder to the Jews in exile to practice the ethical teachings of Jesus. despite hardships abounding on all fronts.

Patience people, for the Lord is coming.

James, an adherent of Jesus’s ethical teachings and a practical man of action, urges patience …like farmers awaiting the yield of the soil. Their experience of the Lord’s purpose, compassion, and mercy must …steady their hearts, and refrain from …grumbling, one against the other.

Such is a critical reminder for us. Halfway through the season of Advent, James urges us to quiet our hearts and continue our holy waiting for the celebration of the Christ mysteries.

He will come.