Waiting

De Profundis, in Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry, ca 1416. Folio 70r - the Musée Condé, Chantilly. Public Domain.

I Am Waiting
By Lawrence Ferlinghetti
 
I am waiting for my case to come up
and I am waiting
for a rebirth of wonder
and I am waiting for someone
to really discover America
and wail
and I am waiting
for the discovery
of a new symbolic western frontier
and I am waiting
for the American Eagle
to really spread its wings
and straighten up and fly right
and I am waiting
for the Age of Anxiety
to drop dead
and I am waiting
for the war to be fought
which will make the world safe
for anarchy
and I am waiting
for the final withering away
of all governments
and I am perpetually awaiting
a rebirth of wonder
 
I am waiting for the Second Coming
and I am waiting
for a religious revival
to sweep thru the state of Arizona
and I am waiting
for the Grapes of Wrath to be stored
and I am waiting
for them to prove
that God is really American
and I am waiting
to see God on television
piped onto church altars
if only they can find
the right channel
to tune in on
and I am waiting
for the Last Supper to be served again
with a strange new appetizer
and I am perpetually awaiting
a rebirth of wonder
 
I am waiting for my number to be called
and I am waiting
for the Salvation Army to take over
and I am waiting
for the meek to be blessed
and inherit the earth
without taxes
and I am waiting
for forests and animals
to reclaim the earth as theirs
and I am waiting
for a way to be devised
to destroy all nationalisms
without killing anybody
and I am waiting
for linnets and planets to fall like rain
and I am waiting for lovers and weepers
to lie down together again
in a new rebirth of wonder
 
I am waiting for the Great Divide to be crossed
and I am anxiously waiting
for the secret of eternal life to be discovered
by an obscure general practitioner
and I am waiting
for the storms of life
to be over
and I am waiting
to set sail for happiness
and I am waiting
for a reconstructed Mayflower
to reach America
with its picture story and tv rights
sold in advance to the natives
and I am waiting
for the lost music to sound again
in the Lost Continent
in a new rebirth of wonder
 
I am waiting for the day
that maketh all things clear
and I am awaiting retribution
for what America did
to Tom Sawyer
and I am waiting
for Alice in Wonderland
to retransmit to me
her total dream of innocence
and I am waiting
for Childe Roland to come
to the final darkest tower
and I am waiting
for Aphrodite
to grow live arms
at a final disarmament conference
in a new rebirth of wonder
 
I am waiting
to get some intimations
of immortality
by recollecting my early childhood
and I am waiting
for the green mornings to come again
youth’s dumb green fields come back again
and I am waiting
for some strains of unpremeditated art
to shake my typewriter
and I am waiting to write
the great indelible poem
and I am waiting
for the last long careless rapture
and I am perpetually waiting
for the fleeing lovers on the Grecian Urn
to catch each other up at last
and embrace
and I am awaiting
perpetually and forever
a renaissance of wonder

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Psalm 130

Psalm 130 is one of a collection of “songs of ascent” or “pilgrim songs” comprising Psalm 120-134. The city of Jerusalem is situated on a hill, and Jews traveling to the city for important festivals sang these songs as they ascended the uphill road to the city. Of this collection, Psalm 130 is perhaps the best known. Commonly known by its opening words in Latin, De Profundis, or “Out of the Depths,” this psalm has influenced many theologians over the centuries. Martin Luther called it “a proper master and doctor of Scripture.” John Wesley’s transforming experience at Aldersgate was provoked by hearing this psalm sung. Hebrew Bible scholar James L. Mays notes that “This record commends the psalm as a succinct but powerful expression of the theme that is the heart of Scripture: the human predicament and its dependence on divine grace.” 
 
There are four parts to this psalm:
•    An invocation, or request for God to listen
•    A confession, comprised of a statement about sin and divine forgiveness
•    A confession of faith in the form of waiting and hope
•    A statement of adoration
 
Waiting on God is referenced throughout our Scriptures so often that it is likely one of our primary stances in our relationship with the divine. The author of James’ letter tells the recipients to
 
Be patient, sisters, and brothers until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. - James 5:7-8
 
Likewise, the prophet Micah writes,
 
But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. – Micah 7:7
 
There is an aspect of the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order, and the social distancing we are all practicing that feels like waiting. We are waiting for more information, new recommendations, and toilet paper in the grocery store. We are wondering when businesses will open back up, and we can return to normal, or at the very least, something closer to the way things were two weeks ago. Some of us are experiencing boredom, tiredness, and the sense that we are living out the life of Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day.
 
Waiting is not a fun activity for most of us. But what if waiting with patience and with hope was more than a mindless activity? What if it was a spiritual discipline? What if waiting - like the waiting we practice during Advent - prepares us for what comes next? That type of waiting has expectations, goals, and some degree of certainty that one day these present troubles will be lifted, and life will flourish.
 
May we wait patiently and with hope these days, trusting that God is among us and about to do something grand.
 
Blessings,
 
Pastor Jared