I am in a season of waiting;

waiting alongside people I love very much

for decisions

that will determine, to a large extent,

the trajectory of their future.

I hate waiting.

I hate uncertainty

I hate knowing that there is nothing I can do

to make circumstances turn out

the way I think they should.

Anyone else feel this way?

So I stumbled across a paper Henri Nouwen 

wrote on the spiritual practice of

waiting.

Here is one very challenging, and deeply inspiring, excerpt:

"To wait open-endedly is an enormously radical attitude toward life.

So is to trust that something good will happen to us that is far beyond

our own imaginings.

So, too, is giving up control over our future and 

letting God define our life,

trusting that God molds us according to God's love

and not according to our fear.

The spiritual life is a life in which 

we are actively present to the moment,

trusting that new things will happen to us,

new things that are far beyond our own imagination,

fantasy,

or prediction.

That, indeed, is a very radical stance

toward life

in a world preoccupied

with control."

What might my waiting look like

if I practiced faithful, open-ended waiting,

rather than fearful,

impatient,

demanding waiting?

I think I am going to give it a try and

find out!