There have been many times when I have been eager (and able) to expedite things.  

Consider a basic activity like cooking.  Or look at any home improvement project. 

The first step involves order. 

Arranging things may take time (like lining up ingredients and measuring utensils before beginning to bake) but initial preparations pay off.  The less you have to look for things once the job has started, the more smoothly the work goes, right? 

Then you jump into phase one.  You can move along with speed when you are doing the rough work... rough carpentry or those first minutes of kneading dough...  or sewing the straight seams in a garment...  all of those first steps can be accomplished at a quick pace...and perhaps with less concentration 

But when you reach the finer details it's time to slow down.  You keep the end product in mind, but you excercise patience.  Most "finishing touches" require a waiting period....  how many times, for example, do you read "Let sit for 24 hours" before going on to the next step. 

Let's be honest, many of us (yours truly included, of course!) have learned the hard way that fast forwarding through those waiting periods can render disappointing results.  The bread didn't rise, the wax didn't set, or the first layer of varnish was still tacky ... remember? 

How does that apply to the life of faith?

 Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.   James 5:7-8

There may be times when we seem to be catapulted into a miracle.   Things suddenly fall into place... good news suddenly appears.  A light bulb seems to go off, and we have a magnificent "Aha!" moment.  

But it doesn't always work that way.  There are other times, especially when we have our hopes set on the glory of God's promises, when we look around at the physical or emotional suffering of people and say "How long, Lord.... enough, already". 

At the center of our Advent practices is the invitation to be patient... (or if patience is not at the center, we do well to help each other remember that it is "supposed" to be).  We wait together in these Advent days, our hearts gathered in a firm stance of hope and expectation, nomatter what!  We know that as God draws forth the birth of new life in us through the birth of Christ, there is no option of inducing labor.  We need to wait...and we are to wait in calm certainty that fulfillment is just around the bend. 

Is there somebody whom you can encourage today by simply helping them to slow down and set their busy-ness aside?  What can you do or say that models patience...truly loving patience.  Sometimes sitting with another ... waiting with them, is the most supportive thing to be done.