Change Comes Slow

Recently, the current situations of the lives of our family and many of the friends we know could be summed up in the word waiting. Many of us are longing for change, looking for the window of possibilities, and hoping for the new life of God to spring up in the most unusual of places.

Today I went looking for a poem to express exactly what I was thinking on this topic and then remembered I already had such a great resource on my bookshelf.

One of my favorite resources for planning worship is Sharlande Sledge's Prayers and Litanies for the Christian Seasons. It has given me thoughtful call to worship and prayers countless times. Sharlande writes often times in ways that just fit perfectly with what I am trying to express and can't find just the right words in time for worship.

In this spirit, I wanted to share with you a poem prayer of Sharlande's. May it speak to your need for patience as you seek what might be next:

Look upon us gently, Lord,

for waiting is not our forte.

So many things are . . .

things like moving ahead,

fixing what wrong,

planning what is next,

diagnosing the problem,

cramming more into a day

than one person can possibly do

before the sun goes down

But waiting . . .

when are waiting for the light to shine,

when we are waiting for the Word,

when we are waiting for a wound to heal,

nothing is harder in all the world

than waiting.

So, in your mercy, Lord,

wait with us.

Be our very present help in waiting.

Heal our frenzy.

Calm our fears.

Comfort those who at this very minute

are with every anxious breathe and thought

waiting for what they know-not-what.

Transform our in-the-meantime

into your time,

while we wait with each other,

sit with each other,

pray each other into hope,

surrounded by your presence,

even in the darkness.

Especially in the darkness.