Be patient, be strong.

My sister would often counsel me - "Johnny, patience!"  While I am getting better at it, patience is not one of my better virtues.  My sister's words often come to mind, knowing that my impatience causes me some level of destructive thinking, which is just not healthy for anyone in my life, least of all me.  

Presently, I am facing three simple tasks.  Each is simple enough but, amazingly, each feeds into a common thread in my way of operating.   The common denominator, triggering my feeling-thinking response, is that, at the centre of each task, is a person I would question or doubt, as I experience their behaviour.  I just lack trust enough to happily accept their part in the task.  

This takes me into being impatient, leading to my bad thinking and feeling patterns.  The baseline seems to be that I am dealing with the unknown of others in my life.  I find this unknown threatening, frightening; thus causing me destructive thinking, which could have undesired consequences.  This is not good.   

Hang on!  I tell myself, that I must stand back and take count.  It is best that I take time to name and own my pattern in dealing with the unknown or unwanted in my life.  I recognize that I am too easily threatened by such possibilities; too easily directed by my own assumptions and thinking that then arise in my internal response.  Truth is no one is making any plausible threat against me, unless I know it for sure.  My unhealthy behaviour arises due to my own biased feelings, which lead to distorted thinking.  Stop it!  Stop being reactive!  Be proactive!  

Be creative, I tell myself, by turning my feeling thing into a spiritual thing.  Instant responses do not work.  The world does not operate as I want it to operate.  Life does not turn out in ways I want.  It is not all that simple, nor should it be.  The world is much bigger than I.  

So act with God and others, never against.  What does this mean?  It is not just passively following the other's lead.  Life is not about being glibly led by others, nor being undiscerning in making decisions, nor just being passively accepting.  That road is just naive and unwise.  

Rather, I tell myself, be strong in oneself, be patient.  It is more healthy being with God, and thus being with the other.  This is about holiness.  In his Exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate, Pope Francis gives us a simple, five point rule to follow.  It goes like this:

Be grounded in God.  Spirituality does matter. 

Live with passion.  Be passionate about life.

Live with joy. 

Pray constantly. 

Be part of the community.     

The bottom line to Francis' programme is that he is aiming at the every day life of any human being.  Holiness is not for experts.  It is for all of us.  So I too can be patient.  First, I be and remain strong in purpose and faith.  In the midst of all, life is humbling, and therein lies the key to it all.  Be patient, be strong; but first be humble.