staying power

These words are carved on a small wooden doorway at the top of a small stairway leading to a little, cell-like room in a tower - it is a lookout at the front of an old church at the abbey on the Isle of Iona. It was in this little room that the monks took turns watching and waiting. It wasn't like a castle lookout tower with a warning bell or a place for weapons to protect the place. It was situated so that the person who was "on-duty" could let others know when someone was coming to the abbey. The purpose of the watch was to welcome the stranger.

What must it have been like to wait and watch, to pray and try to stay awake as you looked for someone, anyone, who might be coming your way? I admire the resolve to welcome the strangers, and find it speaks volumes that this was part of their daily worship - just as much as leading the psalm-singing or planting the garden or carefully illuminating a sacred text.

Waiting is not my strong suit. Like most 21st Century Americans I have been conditioned to expect instant results. Hungry? Well there are any number of "fast" food places, and even if you cook you can be eating in 30 minutes. In Love? There are drive-thru wedding chapels only a flight away in Vegas. Wanna be entertained? You can instantly stream a variety of films, tv shows, etc. Curious about anything? Google it. Want something you can't afford right now? Charge it.

We all know, at some level, that waiting can be a good thing - but that doesn't mean we like it. 2009 was, for me, a year of waiting. We have been looking for ways to do more ministry, to reach out to more students, and (most pressing) ways to afford to keep this outreach alive. We have good ideas, and lots of dreams. But, for a variety of reasons, the timing hasn't quite worked out. So . . . . we keep praying, we keep planning, we keep dreaming - and because we are Presbyterian we keep MEETING! Lots of meetings! All of that adds up to LOTS of waiting.

Waiting to begin what we feel called to do in order to give new life to this ministry. Waiting for the right plan, the right team, the right vision. Waiting to welcome more students. I feel like I've been in that watch tower for MONTHS - and I can see, in the distance, a whole group of students heading our way. But the sea keeps changing and their boat can't quite reach our shores yet.

Frustrating? YES! But not without hope. We continue to listen, to hope, to pray, to work, AND to wait. And deep down I believe that all of this will happen in God's time. And when it does, we (like the monks) will be waiting to welcome in the new faces, tired from their voyage, looking for respite. I just need to figure out what those monks did to keep from going crazy in the meantime!!!

Wait on the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; Wait for the Lord! ~ Psalm 27:14