Waiting in line for healthcare

When I was in the Jesuit seminary, I remember waiting in a long line to see one of the priests. When I finally got in his room he asked me what I did while I was waiting. Fortunately, I just had read the book Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger and was repeating over and over again with my breathing the Jesus Prayer. (“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.”)

The priest was impressed and as this was not the typical answer he expected. His teaching point that day was that waiting can be a blessing if we learn how to wait. Henri Nouwen, the spiritual writer often wrote about the The Spirituality of Waiting. He wrote “A waiting person is a patient person. The word patience means the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us.”

Waiting is something we do a lot, especially the poor. I remember waiting with people in need in long lines for food, clothing, and medical attention or to pay bills. Nowadays a lot of waiting comes when we are put on ‘hold’ on the phone. We can spend long times on hold only to get nowhere at the end and need to start over again.

Today I was going to meet some men at Ms. Lucille house that burnt down to move some furniture over to her storage unit. We were to meet at 10:30 am and I waited and waited in front of the house. Finally Deacon Bill and two friends showed up but we still had to wait for Ms. Lucille grandson or great grandson who was bringing the ‘truck’ and the drill to take out the screws in the boarded house and a dolly. When he finally got there he just had a van like the rest of us were driving and had the drill but not the right drill bit to take out the screws in the door. So we decided to wait till another date when we could get a truck and the right tools. Fortunately a friend at the local Catholic Worker has use of a truck and, if it all works out, we will move the furniture to the storage unit next week.
I used my time waiting listening to public radio and making and receiving phone calls with my cell phone. After we left I ran some errands and came home filling fulfilled not frustrated as I expected. I suspect this good feeling was due to two things. 1) I knew how to wait. 2) We were helping out an 86 year old woman who had raised children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and over one hundred foster children. She also was active in civil and human rights causes. Since God blesses and gives grace to poor and generous in sprit she is a woman full of grace and so we shared in her blessings and grace.

I am not always a patient person and do not wait well at times. But today I was, so waiting brought me fulfillment not frustration.

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