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Take a moment and think about one or two things or people that really make you lose your patience…Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you to say them out loud, this isn’t confession! Maybe its the driving of someone in front of you on the road or maybe the person you are riding with? Perhaps it's a sibling who “borrows” your clothes or takes things out of your room? Maybe it’s a family member who chews louder than a wood chipper or snores like a Category 5 hurricane? Could it be your spouse who takes forever to get ready, uses all the hot water, or never seems to be on time? Is it a friend who tells the same jokes or stories, a priest who never stops talking, or maybe even the white-hot anger I feel towards myself when a mistake is made or I do something less than perfect.
Even if I didn’t name your number one trigger for impatience, it probably wasn’t hard to think of one that gets you every time. We are not patient people and the world we live in is always pushing us to be faster, smarter, and more efficient. Wasting time and energy is seen as public enemy #1. We are encouraged to make use of smartphones, smart cars, smart homes and every other technology to give us more time and make life easier. But all these improvements and innovations haven’t really delivered on this promise. As Americans living in the 21st century, we have more leisure and free time than any other generation before us. Most of us will never have to worry about growing our own food, finding safe lodging, or discovering clean water to sustain us. We have everything we need for survival and the majority of our time is free to be used as we please. We are used to taking charge and making things happen on our terms and at our pace.
Because of our modern mindset, the two parables in the gospel contain truths that farmers would easily understand, but which drive city slickers and suburbanites like us nuts. The first is the parable of the seed. The farmer plants the seed and goes about his routine day, day after day. Eventually the seed grows, not because the farmer does something special, but because nature took its course. For the people of Jesus’ time every field of wheat, every flower, every season and new birth, was a miracle of God's hand. The second parable is that of the mustard seed which seems insignificant, but with the growth God gives, it becomes a plant, probably 10 to 12 feet tall, large enough to shelter the birds of the sky. These two parables of the Kingdom of God tell us that we have to trust in God to give growth to the Kingdom. Furthermore, the growth He gives will be greater than we could ever imagine or make happen. The kingdom that we trust God to give growth to could be the Kingdom of the Church in the world, the Kingdom at work in our parish, or, even the Kingdom of God lived in our homes.
There are many times we expect too much of ourselves and others or we expect humans to do the work that belongs to God alone. To make matters worse, we demand too much to happen too soon. Sometimes parents expect their 8-year olds to act like college grads or their little-leaguers to be pro athletes. Often we have an expectation that people should get things right the first time, every time with regards to their learning, working, and living out their faith. Sometimes we experience extreme disappointment in ourselves because we are not the perfect people we like to imagine ourselves being. Sometimes we are impatient with how we or others are progressing in life. We may be upset with our home situations, our marriages, our families, our jobs, or our relationship with God. What we need to understand is that none of us are self-made men and women. If we trust in God, He will give growth. This growth might be very subtle, something so subtle that it’s hard to notice day-to-day. In fact, others may see it before we do! But after a while it suddenly occurs to us or is pointed out to us: God has brought us a long way. Something that used to derail us or discourage us has lost it’s power over us. If we trust in God and go to Him for all that we need, the growth He gives us will be more than we could ever imagine or accomplish on our own. We are all small seeds, but God can make us great trees. However, if we think that we can do everything ourselves and we don't rely on God, we won't get anywhere. In fact we will become exhausted, irritable, and frustrated. None of us can make ourselves or others grow.
The people of the ancient world were often a step ahead of us when it came to openness to the kingdom of God. They constantly came into contact with their helplessness and knew how much they depended on God for their basic, daily needs. The parables of the farmer and the mustard seed would have described a way of life that many experienced each and every day: It is God who plants the seed and God who makes it grow. We can cooperate with his grace but ultimately it is God who controls everything. We have to be patient, acknowledging that things happen in God’s time and according to his plan.
It is good for us to reflect on God’s patience with mankind and how patience is built into a true understanding of the kingdom of God. Imagine how easy it would have been for God to make us the way he wanted right away, to make us perfect instantly. Instead, God is patient with us, he gives us many opportunities to grow, and forgives our failures whenever we are truly sorry. Truly, God’s patience is one of the great gifts he shares with us and one we certainly don’t earn.
So let us reflect today on the richness of God’s patience and how it is meant to be lived out in our own lives. Let us pray for this gift each and every day so that we might live the truth taught to us in the parables. May we embrace the opportunities that come our way to exercise patience, even if it means suffering, knowing that they come from God and are born out of a wisdom and power much greater than ours.
