Waiting for God

One day last week, I was sitting at breakfast with the three sisters I live with in Seattle. They are members of the Congregation of Saint Joseph of Peace. It was an ordinary morning at breakfast. Nothing unusual happened. I am not a morning person, so being awake and coherent at breakfast with others is quite an achievement for me. At one point during the meal, as we were all sitting quietly and looking out the window, it dawned on me: Here we are, women of God, of different ages, of different life experiences, and of different encounters of religious life, sitting here, waiting for God. Nothing in particular caused that awareness. The simple task of being still allowed me to see our sense of waiting for God in our daily living.

Faith in God, of waiting for God, and of being ready for God. The Book of Hebrews gives a wonderful treatise on faith: "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (11:1, NRSV). Faith is rooted in hope and in conviction. We look to our ancestors as hopeful people who stayed rooted in God. Abraham and Sarah and their children set out on a journey with God not knowing exactly where they were going. Do you think Abraham stopped and asked directions along the way? Abraham did receive direction from God in heading for the land promised to them, a land of life and abundance with God. The Book of Wisdom reminds us that our ancestors in faith remembered the night of Passover, the threshold of deliverance and salvation by God. They placed their faith and courage in God's presence and ongoing covenant relationship.

The Book of Wisdom and the Book of Hebrews remind us that God is with us as we seek a homeland with him on our journey of faith. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus gives several directives to the disciples about that sense of readiness and waiting for God in the meantime of life. Do not be afraid. Be prepared. Be alert. You must be ready, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be. Where is your heart today? How is your heart ready for God?

The Gospel ends with this: "From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded" (Lk. 12:48). Because of our faith in Jesus Christ, much is required of us. Much has been given to us. Much has been entrusted to us. Much more will be demanded of us. In Seattle it is okay to be a wimp regarding the hot weather, but as disciples we are not allowed to be a wimp. God wants all our hearts. This is no passive waiting time. Waiting for God requires our very life. To be authentic, to put our faith in action, what we believe in our heart, what we profess with our lips, how we serve with our hands and feet, how we walk our talk, requires an attentiveness and an awareness of God's presence with us, among us, and within us. The task of waiting for God, of getting ready for God, includes the art of paying attention. Yes, many things can easily distract us, and they will continue to distract us. Yet, faith is God's gift to us. And simple things of the earth nourish this sacred gift of faith in Jesus Christ--simple things like sunlight and mountain, water and forest, wind and ocean, music and golf, laughter and play, quiet and stillness, bread and wine. God comes to us in the ordinary so as to make our lives extraordinary.

This gift of faith in Jesus Christ is a blessing indeed. We are challenged to be proactive in our faith journey. We are called to cultivate all the many aspects of our life and move them in the direction of our faith with God. May we be nourished at the table of bread and wine, at this table of Jesus Christ, and may our prayer be ever deepened into a greater awareness of God's presence in the simple ordinary ways of living. Amen.