Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle. ~ Abraham Lincoln
A couple of weeks ago, there was an animal who became an internet sensation: April the giraffe. April, it seems, was pregnant with her fourth calf (the first for Oliver, the giraffe who sired the calf). I think that the Animal Adventure Park tried to capitalize on the heartstrings of people who hang out on social media and watch for births.
A month or so before that, there was an “Eagle cam” so that people could wait and watch and see the eggs hatch. The mother eagle waited patiently on the nest for her hatchlings to arrive. Comments from those watching were numerous.
So it was with April. People were glued to their computer monitors watching a giraffe pace and munch and pace and munch and pace and munch. Those who surfed to the web page learned a lot about giraffe’s, about how long they are pregnant (15 months), and all sorts of other things.
The director of the park came on line one day to give a little information. One of the things that he said, which made me laugh out loud, was that he was not responsible for when April would give birth and he asked people to quit leaving comments about how much of their lives were being wasted waiting for April to deliver her calf.
I laughed. And I thought to myself, “This certainly has a Lenten message to it, doesn’t it?” After all, we often spend a lot of time during the season of Lent doing all sorts of things. We give up some of our favorite foods. We promise to do good deeds. We make more time for prayer. We attend special prayers and liturgical services.
In the midst of it all, we wonder if we are getting anywhere. Are we just wasting our time? Are all of our good works doing us any good at all? We question and fret and wonder.
Our questioning should lead us to one inexorable truth: we know not what God has in store for us nor when it will come about. Our lot appears to be that of waiting for God’s plan to unfold in our lives.
So we wait.
But, as we wait, we have things to do. We need to apply ourselves to prayer. We need to perform those corporal and spiritual works of mercy. We need to purge ourselves of the things that keep us from God. Above all, we need to be patient.
“Hurry and wait.” That is not only a saying that applies to our worldly life. It is also something that applies to our spiritual life. We continue our waiting — and our hurrying — today.
FAITH ACTION: If you are wondering if your Lenten resolutions are doing you any good, the answer is “Yes”. Now, get back to the doing!