by John Stephenson of Aloha Mystics
In the past decade and a half, we have been conditioned to accept instant gratification as the norm. We no longer send letters or cards through the mail; we email. We no longer browse through bookstores; we order online, and we no longer share photo albums over coffee in our dens; we post way too many pictures on social media. Perhaps it’s time to develop a little more patience.
A passage from the book of James has been coming into my mind quite often, so perhaps it’s something to contemplate. It goes like this: “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
Many of us would like to go back to that simpler time, where the temptations of the world seemed manageable and our spiritual practice fit in neatly with our everyday life of family, friends and work. Now it seems that those activities are being controlled by a pandemic and depending on where we live, the response to that appearance can seem oppressive. We are frustrated that it all hasn’t gone away. What happened to instantaneous healing?
Well, let’s look at that.
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