Something Worth Waiting For

by Jael SC · Published October 11, 2018 · Updated October 11, 2018

By Julia Beacroft – Both my mother and my eldest son have their birthdays in October, and there is exactly 50 years and a day difference in their ages.

How lovely, you might say, but when I gave birth, my Mum was quite indignant about the date.

When I’d had the first ultrasound scan during my pregnancy, we were all thrilled to find out that my due date of delivery was the same as my Mum’s birthday: October 10.

However, nature has a way of taking control in these matters and my beloved first-born arrived a day early, on the 9th of the month.

When the besotted grandparents arrived at the hospital to see their first grandchild, my mother turned to me and said indignantly: “Well, you could have waited another day!”

This has become a family joke to this day, one which my grown-up son often laughs about with his grandmother.

All of us, at some time or another, find that we have to wait for things and this can often be frustrating and sometimes stressful in varying degrees.

In fact, in a world where we all tend to demand things instantly, it is surprising how much time we still spend awaiting decisions, actions, advice, news and a whole host of other things.

Looking at “Waiting” Differently

Yet even in this modern world there is another aspect of our “waiting” which we understand is vital to our spiritual well-being and contentment.

The Lord waits for us to spend time with him. And in this waiting we know that his invitation is an open one and all we have to do is to take advantage of it.

Prayer, reflection and contemplation and being in his presence at Holy Mass are simple means by which we can build our relationship with Jesus Christ and spend the vital time with him, which we all need.

Furthermore, we have been assured that the Lord will come again to this world in all his glory. We may have been waiting for this to happen for nearly 2000 years but we can still be assured that this will be the case.

And so, in recognition of this “waiting”, we must also keep our own lives in good order as we never know when this event will occur. In the words of the beautiful Taizé chant, we must “keep watch and take heart”.

And so in this lovely month of October, may we wait for the Lord and wait upon the Lord, who is always with us no matter what the date.

Julia Beacroft’s book Sanctifying The Spirit is published by Sancio Books (www.sanciobooks.com). It is also available on Amazon.