Monday, November 2, 2009

Patience

Alright, I have a confession to make.

I'm not a patient person.

This probably surprises no one, least of which my mother, who for years would tell me:

"Patience is a virtue,
Virtue is a grace,
Grace is a little girl who wouldn't wash her face."

And I gotta say, that was some of the most singularly unhelpful sayings I've ever heard. It makes no sense.

But in a way it does. When I cry out to God and say, "Lord, give me patience with so and so, or such and such!" I don't really want patience. If I did, I'd just deal with the situation. Its in those trying times that I learn and grow in patience. No, what I really mean when I cry out is, "Lord, I'm tired of learning patience/peace/whatever fruit of the Spirit have you, and I just want you to take care of it so I don't have to."

And isn't that like a little girl who won't wash her face before supper so Mom has to. Sometimes Mom even gets out the tissue, does that gross licking thing to clean off your face (Truly, I hated that, and I know I can't be alone in having a parent do that to me). Grace didn't want to deal with it, so she got cleaned up. The hard way, the gross way, the expedient way. But not the cleanest way, not the way that makes her cheeks shine, and shows off the light in her eyes. Just the easy way.

So in hindsight, that little saying has more wisdom than I accounted for. Asking for patience is definitely asking for trouble, but I think I'd rather that than the easy, spit-tissue style cleanup I get when I decide it's too much for me to handle. When I refuse to wash my own face.

Time to be mindful in my prayers. Maybe that'll give me the patience I don't realize I want in the midst of my whining for it to be easier.

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