Patience

If you are anything like me, you might have a bit of an ambivalent relationship with the concept of being patient. I am often quite impatient when it comes to having to wait for things, especially when there are delays that are out of my control or when there is no certain ‘end point’ in sight. Which sounds all too familiar with the lockdown period we are going through at the moment. On the other hand, I really enjoy having to wait for special occasions or holidays, where the excitement and anticipation builds each day as you count down the days until the big event.

However, I think when love is described as patient in 1 Corinthians 13, it’s about a steadfast endurance through difficult and painful situations. This lockdown has been described as a marathon rather than a sprint and it definitely seems like we are in this for the long haul. Last week was a week of extremely mixed emotions as the nation waited for the government’s announcement on Sunday. Some were hoping and praying for lockdown to be over. Others were feeling huge anxiety about lockdown being lifted too soon and too quickly. I guess I was somewhere in the middle, wanting to see some light at the end of the tunnel but also wanting to make sure we don’t lift the lockdown too fast and risk a second peak.

Whatever happens going forward we are all going to need to be patient, with ourselves, as much as with others, and hold on to the fact that “this too shall pass” eventually. We need to be aware that our basic human need for safety and security is not being met right now (see Maslow’s hierarchy of needs), and many of us are also being deprived of a sense of belonging and intimacy as we continue to be kept physically apart from our friends and family.

My hope is that this period of enforced waiting ­will teach us to be a little more patient going forward. Where we used to live in a fast-paced world, where instant gratification was the norm, where a two second internet delay was unacceptable, where time used to equal money, where we always wanted a “quick fix” to any problem and overlooked the longer term but often more sustainable solutions, where we valued busyness over stillness and saw ‘down time’ as a waste of time, where what we did created a sense of self-worth rather than who we were as people – perhaps now we can begin to rethink this and reassess how we want to live as a society moving forward. Because, after all, “we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3)

So what about you? What is helping to cultivate patience in you at this time?