Wait!
He said, “Wait here!”
Then he took a walk
just a short walk
into the garden
to talk
with the one who sent him,
the one with him always.
They didn’t wait.
They slept.
They couldn’t even stay awake for a moment.
When has he asked you to wait?
When did you need time to sort things out?
When did you sleep? Forget?
And yet, every time, he comes back to you,
holds out his hand to you,
Forgives,
Loves,
Waits
for you.
–Margaret Simon
Reflection: This Spiritual Thursday post is reflecting on Holly Mueller’s One Little Word, Wait. I didn’t want to write about wait. I’ve recently had to wait through an injury, wait for healing to come. The healing has come but slowly. In the meantime, I had to be patient and understand that I could not be who I wanted to be while I was healing. Some days, many days, I had to stop and rest. I needed to wait. But I was frustrated; I didn’t want to stay here. In the moment I wrote the word wait, I imagined Jesus’s request of his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane to wait while he prayed. I realize that I can wait. And, like Mary Oliver, I will be blessed even if all I do is stand right here.