Waiting on God

ERNIE MAIPID, JR.

A dear aunt recently passed on. She was 94! Two years ago, a stroke debilitated her and kept her in bed. Visits to her bedside at my cousin’s place were quick. We spent the time praying and finding out from her caregivers that there was nothing else we could do.

This was the end-stage. I remembered and reflected on Teilhard de Chardin’s prayer. It was his description – a term he calls a time of diminishment.

When the signs of age begin to mark my body, and still more, when they touch my mind, when the ill that is to diminish me or carry me off strikes from without, or is born within me, when (that) painful moment comes….. O God, grant  that I may understand that it is you, who (is) painfully parting the fibres of my being to penetrate into the very marrow of my substance and bear me away within yourself.

The family prepared for what they called a ‘Homegoing’ Zoom. In the obituary, a grandson noted that the deceased had outlived many family members. These are her eldest son by 38 years, his second son by 25 years, a daughter in law by 24 years, and her own husband by 20 years. My aunt had been waiting for almost half of her life, for this glorious moment of rest.

A time for reflection

The thought led me to think about WAITING. My aunt waited in quiet surrender, as sickness wasted her body away. She believed that God would call her in His perfect time!

The state in which we find the world today, afflicted with Covid, is a perfect example of waiting. What do we do as we wait for the discovery of a vaccine or as we wait, keeping safe at home? What do we do as we wait to heal a family member who is alone and cannot be with anyone on this difficult journey? Yes, what does WAITING move in us?

Waiting prods us to STOP! It is as if the ball of the world has been rolling madly and hurrying to the tragic end it finds itself in today. We are forced to stop, to pause, and take stock. What is my rush all about? What am I trying to get at? Is this what I really intend to do?

Waiting moves us to REFLECT! Many of us have, without much thought, jumped into the roller coaster to move and do all life’s externals: work, study, socialize, as if robots, cast out in space, not mindful of purpose, direction, and destiny.

Waiting brings us to HOPE! Something is going to happen. We are confident we can resolve our present dissonant state. We look forward to an end and a beginning.

The global pandemic lockdown has afforded us all more time for introspection. We have found more space for dialogue within and without ourselves. There have been more quiet times to find wholeness, regain composure, and stand renewed. We CONTINUE LIFE’S JOURNEY!

A time for prayer

Prayer is our daily companion in this journey of holy darkness. God sits with us in the darkness of Covid. We may feel abandoned and left to fend for ourselves. The reality is he has never left us. He is with us, seeing us through each day.

How could we have survived and made sense of the past several months if we were deserted? God is there, strengthening our resolve to reach out and ask for help in our time of deep loneliness and great need. Or how could we have been directed to good, compassionate thoughts if we were just left to ourselves? God is forever present, assuring us that an end to all evil is forthcoming and that the reign of good is meant to flourish.

All these movements of God make sense only to those who pray. Prayer connects us to the mind, heart, and spirit of God. And as we wait on him, let us pray and allow him to bring us his peace!