I am beginning to think the “wait” and “waiting” are two of the worst and least helpful words in the English language.  Even more problematic is the oft-understood connotation around this concept:

Waiting implies there is something/someone better for us…

OUT THERE!

• Waiting for our beloved.
• Waiting for a better job/better relationship/better house/better car/ better……everything.
• Waiting for that one thing we think we want that we equally think we don’t have.
• Waiting for our purpose and calling.
• Waiting for success, fame, wealth, etc. etc. etc.
• Waiting for societal change.
• Waiting for the fall of the empire.
• Waiting for the end of racism, sexism, genderism, nationalism, etc. etc. etc.
• Waiting for “the Day of the Lord.”
• Waiting for our savior.
• Waiting for the second coming.

How much of our time do we spend hoping, dreaming, wishing, pondering, thinking, and waiting for “something better” to come into our lives and into our world. This is an especially potent question in the world of those who call themselves Christian as we are in the season of Advent – THE time of waiting. 

What are we waiting for that we don’t already have right here and right now!?  Jesus never promised us better days, better times, or a better humanity.  Instead, he said over and over and over again that what we seek can only be found within and in THIS PRESENT MOMENT. 

Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst (within and among you).”

Luke 17: 20-21

The truth that Jesus spoke is the same truth echoed by every other great spiritual leader.  There is nothing outside of us worth waiting for.  Everything that we are seeking can be found within.  Instead of waiting, we need only turn within and there we will find exactly what we seek. 

What are you waiting for? Just do it!