Patience

I have never been known for being patient.  It just doesn’t seem to be in my nature.  With time my horizons have slowly grown; what was impossible if not accomplished in a few hours or at least days can now fit within a few months, maybe even years.  I still haven’t accepted anything in the decades range but I can see it coming.  It seems as if I am slowly becoming more like those wiser, stronger, and more visionary than myself.
 
When I talk with the best – individuals in business, manufacturing, and builders of things; or those who are artists, writers, photographers, musicians, or even craftsmen (and women), I find there are a few traits which transcend ever field.  The best have and continue to spend extraordinary amounts of time learning and working on getting better.  I have yet to meet one of the best who is content with what she or he has accomplished.  Everyone talks of the best which is yet to be.  The struggle to achieve, improve, and learn is a part of their psyche.  The other trait they all share is patience.  They know great things take time.  They understand the value of being simply present, letting time move in a way all its own.  They rely on things outside of themselves – paint, inspiration, the support of others. 
 
When I look around me I find my list of things “to-do” endlessly long and growing.  I can’t do everything!  It is impossible.  The best don’t seem to try.  They trust their families and community. 
 
I cannot solve life’s wicked problems.  In reality this isn’t, shouldn’t be, on my list.  It is on God’s list.  In time it will be “God's scheduled time for vengeance, the year all Zion's accounts are settled.”  (Isaiah 34.8) 
 
I can be an agent of God’s, reaching into the lives of those in my community.  I can bring compassion, realize mercy, be a partner in Hope.  I can be part of the collective journey, and in the process, a piece of the destination our soul’s long and thirst for.