Patience is something that has taken me many years to develop and it’s still sometimes a work in progress. I think that patience will be harder and harder to learn in an era where results and information are expected instantly. You don’t even have to wait for letters anymore; you can email or Skype. Recently, I came across this quote which contains some valuable thoughts and advice for the practice of patience.
Traditionally, a journey was a rhythm of three forces: time, self and space. Now the digital virus has truncated time and space. Marooned on each instant, we have forfeited the practice of patience. . .The self has become anxious for what the next instant might bring. The greed for destination obliterates the journey.
But a great journey needs plenty of time. It should not be rushed; if it is, your life becomes a kind of abstract package tour devoid of beauty and meaning. There is such a constant whirr of movement that you never know where you are. You have no time to give yourself to the present experience. When you accumulate experiences at such a tempo, everything becomes thin. Consequently, you become ever more absent from your life and this fosters emptiness that haunts the heart.
When you take the time to travel with reverence, a richer life unfolds before you. Moments of beauty begin to brand your days. When your mind becomes more acquainted with reverence, the light, grace and elegance of beauty find you more frequently.
John O’Donohue, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace
(Thanks to The Writing Sisters for this quote from their blog post: http://writingsistersblog.wordpress.com/2013/09/03/draw-near-to-god-day-three/. Check out their blog for inspiring thoughts about writing.)
Some good things just take time to develop, such as this redwood that fell in 1930 in Muir Woods.
This, that and the other thing 