"Till his face goes grey waiting for what looks like it's never going to come...that's the face we all of us got when we're not doing anything special with our face."(F. Buechner "Listening to Your Life" p.152)
I must be getting nervous in my old age. I find that when I'm waiting for someone, wife or kids to come back from wherever they are that I start to think the worst. It's really silly to waste that much time worrying about something that probably isn't going to happen.
I also know that when we wait for something to arrive a letter, a phone call, perhaps about a job, or some medical update that the same level of stress enters. Of course the longer we wait and the longer nothing comes we soon loose interest in it, and then are overwhelmed with perhaps joy or sorrow depending on what comes.
I am sure one of the most frustrating parts of the Christian faith is the waiting for the return of Christ. Even though we're told we won't know, but be ready, it is easy to get that glazed over feeling, and perhaps even impatience.
There was a seen in a Bugs Bunny cartoon which parodied Robin Hood. A character kept coming in and saying "don't you worry never fear, Robin Hood will soon be here." Bugs replies finally, "yeah, yeah, you've been saying that through the whole show." Of course that's when Errol Flynn comes flying in and saying "Welcome to Sherwood."
I think the interminable waiting for the second coming begins to gnaw at folks and you suddenly get the Harold Camping types trying to make things happen. What I've decided is that while I don't know when, I'm going to attempt to be found doing what I'm supposed to be doing. And not be caught off guard. Sometimes folks stop moving while they are waiting. I prefer to keep in motion.
Blessings,
Ed
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