Maybe it\u2019s because I\u2019m a New Yorker. Put me on hold for more than 30 seconds and this customer is likely\u00a0to hang up on you. Get stuck in front of me at a toll booth because your E-ZPass isn\u2019t working and my language is suddenly\u00a0NSFW<\/em>. Show up more than\u00a0ten minutes late to a business meeting and it\u2019s not going to go well. So, yes I\u2019m probably not considered a very patient man.<\/p>\n The internet has only made it worse. I expect \u2013 no, actually I demand \u2013 instant access to everything: information; entertainment;\u00a0buying stuff. Amazon Prime, of course. Say, when does that same-day drone delivery service start?<\/em><\/p>\n When I returned to the Church after 41 years I naturally went into over-drive. So much to re-learn. So much to learn<\/em> for the first time. Over 2,000 years of history, tradition, and\u00a0teaching to think about, absorb, and put into practice.<\/p>\n And a staggering amount of growth to undertake\u00a0in order to fully become the person that I want to be. Not necessarily\u00a0a \u201cnicer\u201d man, or a \u201cbetter\u201d man, or a more \u201creligious\u201d\u00a0man, mind you. None of those would take very long or be too difficult. And none are essential.<\/p>\n No, what I need to do now is much tougher for me.<\/p>\n I want to become that person who has learned to no longer measure\u00a0success by the amount of his earthly treasure. And one who has learned how to truly forgive his enemies. And, above all else,\u00a0one who has learned how to first seek the Kingdom of Heaven\u00a0before all other things (Matthew 6:33).<\/p>\n Tall order\u00a0that. Especially for those patience-challenged souls\u00a0like myself.<\/p>\n So I must continually remind myself\u00a0to slow it all down. To take a deep breath. To prioritize. To have faith even when I\u2019m my most anxious and my most uncertain and my most doubtful. Especially then.<\/p>\n These wise words, written by a\u00a0French philosopher who was also a geologist, a paleontologist, and a Jesuit Priest,\u00a0remind me\u00a0that I must learn to trust the process, however long it takes, however uncertain it feels.<\/p>\n And so, my first prayer this day is one for a new found patience and trust:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Patient Trust<\/strong><\/p>\n Above all, trust in the slow work of God. And so I think it is with you; Only God could say what this new spirit Peace<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Maybe it\u2019s because I\u2019m a New Yorker. Put me on hold for more than 30 seconds and this customer is likely\u00a0to hang up on you. Get stuck in front of me at a toll booth because your E-ZPass isn\u2019t working and my language is suddenly\u00a0NSFW. Show up more than\u00a0ten minutes late to a business meeting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1976,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nWe are quite naturally impatient in everything
\nto reach the end without delay.
\nWe should like to skip the intermediate stages.
\nWe are impatient of being on the way to something
\nunknown, something new.
\nAnd yet it is the law of all progress
\nthat it is made by passing through
\nsome stages of instability\u2014
\nand that it may take a very long time.<\/p>\n
\nyour ideas mature gradually\u2014let them grow,
\nlet them shape themselves, without undue haste.
\nDon\u2019t try to force them on,
\nas though you could be today what time
\n(that is to say, grace and circumstances
\nacting on your own good will)
\nwill make of you tomorrow.<\/p>\n
\ngradually forming within you will be.
\nGive Our Lord the benefit of believing
\nthat his hand is leading you,
\nand accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
\nin suspense and incomplete \u2014Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ<\/p><\/blockquote>\n