We’ve taken a blogging break for the holiday and now head home from the snowbound NYC. Should be an adventure and I will add some details later.
We stayed at a hotel in Tarrytown after visiting my parents. A good visit all around. Pictures will also follow, for the moment they are unavailable though. Again, details to follow.
We celebrated a brief word service on the feast of the Holy Family as we couldn’t make it out of the hotel. I was touched by the first reading from Sirach which implores “Take care of your father when he is old.”. And generally it reminds us of the importance of a parent’s love and their patience.
Right now I’m in the waiting area prepared to travel back to Buffalo. There is a little kid who frankly is having a complete meltdown. His mother is being very patient with him and continues to try to keep him in line. It’s confirming my own lack of children as a good thing for me as I don’t think I’d handle him as well. In fact my own stress level is rising just being next to him. The kid is wearing a hat that says “Never give up” and indeed that must be a reminder to his parent to continue being patient with him. Perhaps the same lesson applies to our care for those at the other end of life’s spectrum? We need patience and commitment to care for all of those who need just a bit more attention, maybe even a bit more than we are willing to give.
Today in the gridlock that is NYC, patience will be required to be practiced by everyone as they struggle to get home. (that’s the genesis of the kid’s meltdown BTW. Marion and I had a small one when we realized we’d have to extend our trip.
Patience is a virtue. And perhaps that virtue needs practice in order to be perfectly executed. We’ll make a few mistakes with this. But when we come before God in prayer, we humbly offer our weaknesses to God hoping for patience as well.
Today may God grant us the patience that we need when we are too tired to give anymore of ourselves, when we are at the end of our ropes, when we simply run out of patience. And when we do and we get angry and meltdown, may God have patience with us as well.
And for this young child who is suddenly peacefully waiting with his book, may God help to get him home.