Time for Patience

What does it mean to be "patient"? All too often, people think of patience as just sitting and waiting, which is quite inaccurate. "Just sitting and waiting" is being passive, but patience is active. When a person is properly patient he is considering the situation, planning for various possibilities, and is concerned about doing things in the right time.

A patient person may appear on the outside to be no different than the passive person who just waits, but they are quite different. The one just waiting has little to no plan, and he is only reacting (often badly). The patient person has a plan, and he is proactive. How do we deal with the mess that our nation is in right now? It would seem pleasant to rush out and fix it, but that does not take into consideration all the aspects of the problem.

I remember someone years ago who got very upset because a Church court did not respond quickly to an issue it was examining. The court even put a gag order on those involved (for the sake of the accused). In the end the "trial" took four years to finish, and the Church issued a clear and direct answer. The person who was upset, however, had already fallen into anger and despair and stomped off in a storm. Patience is a virtue.

How are we dealing with this crazy nation we live in? Do we rush with our responses? Or, do we pause and consider all the details? Are we truly patient? There are times when quick action is necessary, and I am not trying to say that people should not step into the gap in those situations. Wisdom, however, shows us that many situations require caution, consideration, and investigation. In those times patience is important. In these times, right now, today, patience is absolutely essential.