"Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord." Psa. 27:14
"For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land." Psa. 37:9
First let me say that, although I've begun with a phrase and quotes from the Bible, my reflections and writing are practical observations for anyone, regardless of their faith leanings. You see I think the Bible is generally a self-help book, and in fact many people really interact with the Bible for the first time in a self-help sort of way, I suppose that's why the Gideons place Bibles in hotel rooms, so people when traveling and alone have a source of help.
I added The Catholic Worker to the title because yesterday I visited Casa Juan Diego, a catholic worker community in Houston, TX which prompted me to write this morning.
What I'll attempt to do is write my thoughts on my spiritual reaction to the idea of waiting for God, and connect that to what I got from my visit yesterday, while also commenting on the value of the idea of waiting and patience for persons of any faith, or non-religion.
First, why the phrase "wait on the Lord"? This all began a few weeks ago when I was meeting with Dan K., a local person who has a desire to start something like a catholic worker. It's clear that part of his vision is to have a house from which to provide services. In our conversation it came out that we should just meet and leave room for the spirit to work. Both of us come from the faith position that God is present and if we leave room and wait for God to work then it will be clear and all we have to do is say yes and keep on the path so to speak. So we decided to "wait on the Lord". Then last Monday at morning prayer, the reading was from Isaiah (probably the one above) about waiting on the Lord. Hmmmm, I'm starting to see a theme here. Then Dan and I went to visit Louise and Mark at Casa Juan Diego and as we asked questions about starting a catholic worker house, the theme continued to come back around to "waiting for inspiration" or "patiently watching" to see what turns up.
Janie and I have been learning that intentionally waiting for God to act is difficult sometimes and I for one have a tendency to move on something before God has had a chance to act, or maybe my moving was God's act. How does one know? Anyway, we have also learned that when we do wait (with intention to do something well or positive, etc.) then things seem to work out. In fact Dan and I were talking about how things seem to often work out and I liked what he said his friend Jerry says, something like "That's the way it works." As if everyone knows that.
So waiting on the Lord is good and often difficult.
I'll give an example of how things worked out for CJD once. The Zwicks told us that they have incorporated as a non-profit which has been very helpful for their fundraising. They have been operating for 30 years and they feed all kinds of people and even provide rent for people who need it. It seems like their operation must take quite a bit of money, and they always seem to work it out. They started without non-profit status, and then one day about two years into their operations, a lawyer friend asked if they'd like to be a non-profit and then got them all set up. Just like that. They told more stories like that and in fact they have a book full of stories called Mercy Without Borders.
Now, as a sociologist and a counselor, I'd like to comment on the Bible as a self-help book. Waiting on the Lord is a message about patience which is very helpful most times. You see above some quotes about patience. There all kinds of great self-help lessons in the Bible. I think that a person can totally learn from the writings of the people who wrote the Bible whether it's the inspired Word of God or not. That person can learn about humility, patience, tolerance, love, etc. That person can also learn about greed, lust, power, hate and other vices and how to grow the positive and counter the negative.
I'll be posting more about the catholic worker project that starts with waiting on God. Hope you read and comment.
Martin
First let me say that, although I've begun with a phrase and quotes from the Bible, my reflections and writing are practical observations for anyone, regardless of their faith leanings. You see I think the Bible is generally a self-help book, and in fact many people really interact with the Bible for the first time in a self-help sort of way, I suppose that's why the Gideons place Bibles in hotel rooms, so people when traveling and alone have a source of help.
I added The Catholic Worker to the title because yesterday I visited Casa Juan Diego, a catholic worker community in Houston, TX which prompted me to write this morning.
What I'll attempt to do is write my thoughts on my spiritual reaction to the idea of waiting for God, and connect that to what I got from my visit yesterday, while also commenting on the value of the idea of waiting and patience for persons of any faith, or non-religion.
First, why the phrase "wait on the Lord"? This all began a few weeks ago when I was meeting with Dan K., a local person who has a desire to start something like a catholic worker. It's clear that part of his vision is to have a house from which to provide services. In our conversation it came out that we should just meet and leave room for the spirit to work. Both of us come from the faith position that God is present and if we leave room and wait for God to work then it will be clear and all we have to do is say yes and keep on the path so to speak. So we decided to "wait on the Lord". Then last Monday at morning prayer, the reading was from Isaiah (probably the one above) about waiting on the Lord. Hmmmm, I'm starting to see a theme here. Then Dan and I went to visit Louise and Mark at Casa Juan Diego and as we asked questions about starting a catholic worker house, the theme continued to come back around to "waiting for inspiration" or "patiently watching" to see what turns up.
Janie and I have been learning that intentionally waiting for God to act is difficult sometimes and I for one have a tendency to move on something before God has had a chance to act, or maybe my moving was God's act. How does one know? Anyway, we have also learned that when we do wait (with intention to do something well or positive, etc.) then things seem to work out. In fact Dan and I were talking about how things seem to often work out and I liked what he said his friend Jerry says, something like "That's the way it works." As if everyone knows that.
So waiting on the Lord is good and often difficult.
I'll give an example of how things worked out for CJD once. The Zwicks told us that they have incorporated as a non-profit which has been very helpful for their fundraising. They have been operating for 30 years and they feed all kinds of people and even provide rent for people who need it. It seems like their operation must take quite a bit of money, and they always seem to work it out. They started without non-profit status, and then one day about two years into their operations, a lawyer friend asked if they'd like to be a non-profit and then got them all set up. Just like that. They told more stories like that and in fact they have a book full of stories called Mercy Without Borders.
Now, as a sociologist and a counselor, I'd like to comment on the Bible as a self-help book. Waiting on the Lord is a message about patience which is very helpful most times. You see above some quotes about patience. There all kinds of great self-help lessons in the Bible. I think that a person can totally learn from the writings of the people who wrote the Bible whether it's the inspired Word of God or not. That person can learn about humility, patience, tolerance, love, etc. That person can also learn about greed, lust, power, hate and other vices and how to grow the positive and counter the negative.
I'll be posting more about the catholic worker project that starts with waiting on God. Hope you read and comment.
Martin
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