Pastor’s Corner: Waiting

August 12, 2020

I spend a certain amount of my life waiting…

Waiting…

Waiting…

…for coffee.

I know perfectly well that I don’t need coffee to do things. As much as I sometimes marvel that I can accomplish making coffee before drinking coffee, I greet the world uncaffeinated most of the time. In fact, the coffee maker is burbling away as I write this reflection.

You can blame the quality of the writing, if you like, on the fact I haven’t had any coffee yet.

Despite the claims of its most ardent proponents, coffee is not the world’s greatest pick-me-up. That honor belongs to the things that really resonate in our souls: the sights, scents, and sounds of God’s heartbreakingly beautiful world, the real and symbolic embraces of human relationships, and above all the loving presence of God.

Though we are always surrounded to some degree by these restorers of the soul, there are many times we have to wait for one or more of them. You can’t revel in the sunrise at 3:00 am. You need to wait for the child to come home. You may carry burdens that, until shed, obscure the presence of God.

Even in the waiting time, however, there are things you can accomplish. There are ways you can grow. Even if you seek great relief – as from a pandemic, perhaps? – there are still small reliefs that can sustain you. A deep, cleansing breath. Cool water on the face. A silent prayer. A sunrise.

As I seek renewal during these next two weeks away, may you find nourishment and comfort in the pick-me-ups available to you.

Who know? One of them might be… coffee.

(It’s ready now.)

With aloha,

Pastor Eric