What is in the Waiting?

“ I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope” Psalm 130:5

What is waiting, besides you and me, in this time of isolation? Much has been written about what we will do when we are sprung! Haircuts, restaurant visits, gyms, hugs, jobs, in church worship, book group actual gatherings, ...just to name a few of the things for which we are waiting. But what is waiting for our attention differently; what have we learned? What is in the waiting? Is there a spirituality of waiting? 

Waiting on God is a favorite topic for many mystics. It might be wondrous and contemplative. But during this time of Covid 19 waiting is more often than not connected to anxiety and fear. We wait for results, we wait for financial news, we wait for cures. 

Much has been collapsed into the phrase, “I cannot wait to get back to normal!” To which I respond: Wait! What!?

When confronted with this kind of waiting or any translation of waiting which aligns it with “normalcy”, I get jittery and anxious. And I wait for new prayers to emerge which gently hold the question at another angle. I can’t wait to celebrate priesthood more fully. I can’t wait to process the new and the meaning of all this. I can’t wait to experience God in all this. 

While there is certainly a liberation from this imposed isolation which does await and a certain refreshment (like getting a haircut!), I wonder whether there is also a freedom into which we are living, a freedom from some of the previous expectations. 

And as Psalm 130 indicates waiting on the Lord is not only crucial but there is hope in and for the waiting. So I am going to try to tilt my waiting toward the angle of holy hope and play with redefining “normal”.