“Lord, give me patience and right now!” Imagine! Orders from below? This kind of prayer suggests how impatient humans can be with others, with themselves and, at times, even with God!
It actually, accounts for the noisy and self-entertaining liturgy, doubling as a manifestation of loss of faith in God (Matthew 6:7).
Although patient seems to be incompatible with today’s society of quick fixes to challenges, impatience is too destructive to become a virtue. To be impatient is to feel and show hostility towards things which obstruct, frustrate or delay one’s goals.
Impatience is known to be one of the major causes of road accidents and traffic jam. Drivers suggest to themselves that they cannot wait, so they drive themselves, and others, crazy.
Impatience can lead us into addiction to crooked lifestyles. Nutritionists advise us to avoid fast foods, because they are a major cause of obesity and other kinds of ill-health. Yet, fast-foods remain a very lucrative business, because of our being addicted to them.
The proverbial saying ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ suggests that great achievements take time and effort and should not be rushed. Many depict elective politics as “a dirty game”. Having lost the patience and sobriety it requires, they resort to cheating and violence. Joe Biden became the 46th president of US, at the age of 78, after making three patient attempts.
Broken relationships and broken marriages reveal the impatience within us. This causes life-long pain, and a broken society. Trial marriages cannot be the way to go. “Love is patient” or “love waits” (1 Corinthians 13:4). It compels us to love our future spouse enough to wait patiently for him/her and, in the meantime, surrender our aspirations to God. Click to read more…
