The Waiting Game

The Waiting Game




The end of November signals the start of the season which the church knows as Advent – a period of waiting. Waiting, first, as the Old Testament saints did, for the birth of Jesus (read the Christmas story, particularly in Luke’s Gospel, if you wish to know more). Waiting, second, for the arrival of God’s Kingdom in all its fullness, something Christians state regularly that they believe in – ‘I believe He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end’ - though we, wisely, refuse to set a date.



Waiting is not something that many of us are well versed in. Indeed waiting is something at which our culture is particularly bad. Take, for example, ‘Black Friday’. In 2008 a crowd of approximately 2,000 shoppers in Valley Stream, New York, waited outside for the 5:00 a.m. opening of the local Wal-Mart. As opening time approached the crowd grew anxious and when the doors were opened the crowd pushed forward, breaking the door down, and trampling a 34 year old employee to death. The shoppers did not appear concerned with the victim's fate, expressing refusal to halt their stampede when other employees attempted to intervene, complaining that they had been waiting in the cold and were not willing to wait any longer. Shoppers had begun assembling as early as 9:00 the evening before. Even when police arrived and attempted to render aid to the injured man, shoppers continued to pour in, shoving and pushing the officers as they made their way into the store (1). This incident reveals not simply an inability to queue, but also a more widespread impatience and a deep malaise. I want it and I want it now!



Thinking a little more about the waiting game, the so called ‘Stanford Marshmallow Experiment’ is highly revealing. This was carried out in 1972 by psychologist Walter Mischel of Stanford University. A marshmallow was offered to a number of small children and, if the child could resist eating the marshmallow for fifteen minutes, they were promised two instead of one. The scientists analysed how long each child resisted the temptation and whether or not doing so had an effect on their future success. Mischel observed that some would "cover their eyes with their hands or turn around so that they can't see the tray, others start kicking the desk, or tug on their pigtails, or stroke the marshmallow as if it were a tiny stuffed animal", while others would simply eat the marshmallow as soon as the researchers left. The follow up confirmed a link between those who could delay gratification the longest and their subsequent educational performance (2).



How important, then, it is for people to develop what might be termed patience or perseverance, a characteristic that the bible frequently highlights. This Advent, we all find ourselves playing a waiting game, most notably in terms of our deployment, whether this be for a few weeks, a few months or, in a couple of cases, a whole year. That game is not an easy one to play, but with the right approach and support, it can be highly beneficial. Relationships with those at home can be strengthened as we learn to appreciate family and friends in a way that, previously, we perhaps had not done. In this regard, written correspondence can provide a richer medium, allowing things often left unsaid to be said. Character can also grow as we wean ourselves from – or are forcibly removed from – many of the means of support that we normally rely on, whether that be alcohol, shopping, the mobile phone, our home comforts or even Farmville! Finally, a sense of God’s presence may be more readily experienced as the number of distractions is reduced and our lives become, for a time at least, simpler, thus allowing us to tune in not only to our own hearts, but also the One who is ‘not far from each one of us’ (3)



Mike Newman – Padre





(1) Wikipedia article ‘Black Friday’

(2) Wikipedia article ‘Stanford Marshmallow Experiment’

(3) Acts 17 27