The root of patience
I wait
On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
—Isaiah 11:1
I wait
with quickened hope
for crooked paths
to straighten,
with tough-soul’d
anguish,
while blinded
keepers of the keys
shut out
God’s own.
(If such a thing
were possible.)
I wait,
and will not be
dismayed.
For tiny shoot
of Jesse tree
took root in me
to love
transform,
give sight
set free.
Christine Schenk
The French author Simone Weil writes in her notebook: “Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life.” Without patience our expectation degenerates into wishful thinking. Patience comes from the word patior which means “to suffer” … What seems a hindrance becomes a way; what seems an obstacle becomes a door; what seems a misfit becomes a cornerstone.
Henri Nouwen
Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932-1996) was one of the leading spiritual writers of the 20th century. He was the author of The Wounded Healer, Making All Things New, Reaching Out, and many other bestsellers. He was the senior pastor of L’Arche Daybreak in Toronto, Canada — a community where men and women with mental disabilities and their assistants create a home for one another.