HOW AN OBSTACLE BECOMES A DOOR

Without patience our expectation degenerates into wishful thinking. Patience comes from the word “patior” which means to suffer. The first thing that Jesus promises is suffering: “I tell you …. you will be weeping and wailing …. and you will be sorrowful.” But he calls these birth pains. And so, what seems a hindrance becomes a way; what seems like an obstacle becomes a door; what seems a misfit becomes a cornerstone. Jesus changes our history from a series of sad incidents and accidents into a constant opportunity for a change of heart. To wait patiently therefore means to allow our weeping and wailing to become the purifying preparation by which we are made ready to receive the joy which is promised us.
- HENRI NOUWEN