Waiting

The length of this year’s Epiphany season has afforded an opportunity for many to enter into a time of deeper reflection and preparation for Lent and the resurrection promise of Easter. Through all that occurs in our lives – earthquakes, tsunamis, wars, violence, economic volatility, and even lives transformed by the power of God – we are enlightened and emboldened in our sensed need for the powerful presence of God in our lives. The resurrection promise of Easter is one of hope and joy amidst any and all of life’s circumstances. This hope and joy is what the church is called to embody and proclaim as we participate in the transformation of the world in Christ’s name. In The Sabbatical Journey, Henri Nouwen shared that “Life is a short moment of waiting. But life is not empty waiting. It is to wait full of expectation. This knowledge that God will indeed fulfill the promise to renew everything, and will offer us a “new heaven and new earth,” makes the waiting exciting…” May God, who is making all things new, make our waiting exciting in the days that are before us.