The thought of my
affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall! My soul continually thinks
of it and is bowed down within me. But
this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord
never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is
my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The Lord is good to
those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for
the salvation of the Lord. (Lamentations 3:19-26)
As we saw briefly last week, the contemplative concept of
waiting, let alone waiting quietly, may be puzzling. Doing things is how we achieve, get results...
being busy. Waiting, in our culture is a
problem, an imposition… like waiting in a phone queue, or in a snaking line at
the airport. Waiting however is
something Jews have always known, and treated with respect. At the end of the Passover meal they will
say, Next year in Jerusalem… knowing
well that that’s unlikely. Jewish faith
is built on waiting, while at the same time you get on with all that needs to
be done. Waiting is extolled many times
in the Psalms, and indeed there are several Hebrew words which convey different
aspects of waiting. Our soul waits for the Lord… our heart is glad in him (Ps
33:20). For God alone my soul waits in silence (Ps 62:1). I
waited patiently for the Lord (Ps 40:1).
And famously in Isaiah: Those who
wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings
like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint
(Is 40:31).
Waiting presupposes a listening, attentive heart. It is not idle hanging about, and it is
different altogether from the sullen anxiety of the outpatient waiting room. Waiting, in the biblical sense, entails being
ready to set aside, for the time being, our achievement mentality, and so it is
truly contemplative. I was very struck by Walter Brueggemann’s view
of the culture in which Jesus’s followers find ourselves in our day… we are
called to wait because…
+
The old certitudes are less certain.
+
The old privileges are under powerful challenge.
+
The old dominations are increasingly ineffective and we are not so clearly in
charge.
+
The old institutions seem less and less able to deliver what is counted upon.
+The old social fabrics of neighbourliness are eroded into selfishness,
fear, anger and suspicion.
In this environment the waiting heart comes into its
own. It is an important way forward in
faith, expressed so well by the Psalmist:
Be still, and know that I am God.[1] Be still and know… That Hebrew verb literally means to relax
one’s grip on something, to unclench.
The way forward is in stillness and silence, relinquishing, letting go
of fear and anger, of our various idolatries, opening one’s heart to a deeper
knowledge, a clearer discernment, a wider love.
No comments:
Post a Comment