An Advent "Waiting" Meditation
At work, it's usually a good idea to take the initiative. Nothing happens unless you act. So taking that first step to handle your responsibilities each day is a good discipline to develop. On the other hand, sometimes you just have to wait.
For example, we wait when a problem comes up that we can't resolve ourselves right away. we might need to inform our boss, or find colleagues to assist us in addressing the problem. I'm working on a project right now that requires a report to be completed before I can take the next step. The information on the report is critical to executing the next step properly. There are at least a half dozen people involved in this project, each of whom has other responsibilities besides this project, as do I. In this particular case, I'm the leader of the team involved, and so my role includes making sure things get done on time.
It can be frustrating when, as in this case, everything is on hold until one individual comes through with their critical task. I've taken the step of urging the party responsible for the report to please move quickly as there's a deadline looming, etc. Everyone else on the team is informed of where things stand and the need to move quickly once this individual finishes their analysis and conclusions. I've done all I can to assist in the completion of the analysis, within the bounds of my competence. I've even alerted everyone to the fact that we're entering the Christmas holiday Season, when people tend to get distracted by all that's entailed in preparing for Christmas.
In short, I've done everything I can. Now I wait.
As the days slip by, and the deadline draws near, there's some sense of anxiety that's crept into the mix. But having done all I can do, there's no point being anxious. So I've turned to Our Lord and put my trust in him. I've even prayed to my guardian angel and asked that he request assistance from the guardian angel of the guy who's got to get this report done. Still, it's frustrating.
But, being Catholic, there is a next step on the supernatural level that I can take, and that is to accept any anxiety or distress that may yet arise from this situation as a "passive penance," something we talked about last time. Okay, I just took that step.
(If there's anything more you think I can do, especially on the supernatural level, please let me know!)
So now, while I'm waiting, it occurs to me that this waiting, coming as it does during Advent, fits perfectly in with this first holy season of the liturgical year. Sure, I've done my planning and am fixed with a firm purpose on my goals for the coming year. I'm taking action each day to accomplish those goals. And yet, in the midst of my initiatives, comes this waiting, this frustrating lull in getting something really important accomplished before the end of this calendar year.
I don't presume that God is somehow behind this waiting - that maybe He decided I needed a strong lesson waiting to enrich my Advent. More likely, He simply permits what's now happening and gives me the grace to recognize it as, let's say, an opportunity for passive penance.
Now that I think about it, it dawns on me (a dawning that no doubt springs from His Grace) that I've got a chance to increase my understanding of the waiting we do every day of our lives as we look to the end times - whether the end of all time, or the end of our individual lives.
And so this lesson in waiting now reminds me of the importance of us Catholics meditating on the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell. We should always keep these front and center in our spiritual lives, but most especially ought we keep them foremost in our minds during Advent and Lent. And, of course, my project-on-hold opened up the spiritual door to my understanding this.
The ways of God are not our ways. But aren't they wondrous?!!
For example, we wait when a problem comes up that we can't resolve ourselves right away. we might need to inform our boss, or find colleagues to assist us in addressing the problem. I'm working on a project right now that requires a report to be completed before I can take the next step. The information on the report is critical to executing the next step properly. There are at least a half dozen people involved in this project, each of whom has other responsibilities besides this project, as do I. In this particular case, I'm the leader of the team involved, and so my role includes making sure things get done on time.
It can be frustrating when, as in this case, everything is on hold until one individual comes through with their critical task. I've taken the step of urging the party responsible for the report to please move quickly as there's a deadline looming, etc. Everyone else on the team is informed of where things stand and the need to move quickly once this individual finishes their analysis and conclusions. I've done all I can to assist in the completion of the analysis, within the bounds of my competence. I've even alerted everyone to the fact that we're entering the Christmas holiday Season, when people tend to get distracted by all that's entailed in preparing for Christmas.
In short, I've done everything I can. Now I wait.
As the days slip by, and the deadline draws near, there's some sense of anxiety that's crept into the mix. But having done all I can do, there's no point being anxious. So I've turned to Our Lord and put my trust in him. I've even prayed to my guardian angel and asked that he request assistance from the guardian angel of the guy who's got to get this report done. Still, it's frustrating.
But, being Catholic, there is a next step on the supernatural level that I can take, and that is to accept any anxiety or distress that may yet arise from this situation as a "passive penance," something we talked about last time. Okay, I just took that step.
(If there's anything more you think I can do, especially on the supernatural level, please let me know!)
So now, while I'm waiting, it occurs to me that this waiting, coming as it does during Advent, fits perfectly in with this first holy season of the liturgical year. Sure, I've done my planning and am fixed with a firm purpose on my goals for the coming year. I'm taking action each day to accomplish those goals. And yet, in the midst of my initiatives, comes this waiting, this frustrating lull in getting something really important accomplished before the end of this calendar year.
I don't presume that God is somehow behind this waiting - that maybe He decided I needed a strong lesson waiting to enrich my Advent. More likely, He simply permits what's now happening and gives me the grace to recognize it as, let's say, an opportunity for passive penance.
Now that I think about it, it dawns on me (a dawning that no doubt springs from His Grace) that I've got a chance to increase my understanding of the waiting we do every day of our lives as we look to the end times - whether the end of all time, or the end of our individual lives.
And so this lesson in waiting now reminds me of the importance of us Catholics meditating on the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell. We should always keep these front and center in our spiritual lives, but most especially ought we keep them foremost in our minds during Advent and Lent. And, of course, my project-on-hold opened up the spiritual door to my understanding this.
The ways of God are not our ways. But aren't they wondrous?!!
Diving Infant of Bethlehem, come and take birth in our hearts.
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