Dear Readers: We are still in Spain, but have completed our pilgrimage. Today Tee and I travel to Paris for a little French R&R, if you can call it that. We’re overwhelmed and will no doubt need some time to absorb our experiences. So rather than try to write something I’m not yet spiritually and emotionally prepared to express, I will share something from the archives about a previous travel experience, also appropriate about this particular adventure.
From the Archives
On rare occasions it will happen. In the midst of our busy lives an instance will occur when time stands still – the “clock” time that dominates so much of our lives becomes suspended. Strange as it may sound, in those moments we experience the true meaning of patience, for time becomes irrelevant to the activity in which we are engaged.
It happened in a quaint restaurant in Pietrasanta, a small city in Italy. We were on holiday with a group of close friends visiting the Tuscany and Umbria regions and it was the first evening of our two week excursion. In that magical moment, time as we know it was nonexistent. No one thing – the food, the wine, the ambiance, not even the fellowship – could be singled out as the reason. Rather, it was time in its fullness – in complete abundance.
The antithesis of patience, of course, is impatience. Impatience always has something to do with time. It is about working against the clock which says to us, “Hurry! Hurry!”
Patience, on the other hand, occurs at those times when we are the most engaged in life. It is about being steadfast and focused on the things that matter the most.
Patience is experienced through the comforting of a small child with a skinned knee, at the bedside of a critically ill loved one, watching a majestic sunset at the end of a long summer’s day, completing an important project for work or school, preparing for a new career, or with a group of friends in a quaint restaurant while on holiday in Italy.
It is in those patient moments that time is the most abundant, and our lives are the most fulfilled.