“All things are difficult before they become easy.” ~Saadi, one of the major Persian poets of the medieval period. (1184-1291)
The door
slammed shut behind me as I exited. The small hydraulic door closer at the top
of the door had lost its effectiveness long ago. My office was located at the
opposite end of the property from the school office. To get there I had to
traverse the length of the church parking lot which served as the school
playground.
As I turned to
begin my trek across the expanse of asphalt, I was confronted by a playground
melee. A group of five students from the after-school program, had retrieved the
pile of jump ropes from their box. In the process of trying to separate them, a
multi-directional tug-of-war had ensued. Each of five students had grabbed one
end of a jump rope and begun to pull on it. Rather than separating the ropes,
their short-cut approach caused a rat’s nest of tangled jump ropes to form in
the center.
The children
shouted and tugged at their respective ends of the rope with gusto. But the
more they pulled, the tighter the “nest” became.
“Stop! Stop
pulling,” I barked, arriving on the scene. Immediately a cacophony of finger-pointing
ensued. “Stop pulling and let me untangle this mess,” I responded. Kneeling
down on the rough surface, I began the arduous task of tracing the course of
each jump rope through the gigantic knot. Fortunately some were a different
color, but not all.
Slowly I began
to unravel the mess, but just as it seemed I was making headway, one of the
children would become impatient and give a sharp tug on their rope cinching the
knot up tight again. Patiently, I reassured them that I would get the ropes
untangled, but they had to trust me and not pull on the ropes.
Eventually,
one at a time, I was able to start extricating individual ropes. Each time I
did so, a happy child would run off with the rope shouting, “Thanks, Deacon
Jim!” And each time, because there was one less rope to manage, the process
became easier and moved along more quickly. But this also meant reassuring the
remaining children that their turn was coming.
Finally, the
last two ropes were separated. As two happy children ran off yelling, “Thanks,
Deacon Jim,” I stood and watched them go.
A sense of
satisfaction came over me, which was quickly followed by a moment of confusion.
Why was I going to the school office? I couldn’t remember. It must have been
important. Finally, I turned and returned to my own office shaking my head.
Perhaps God had once again put me where he
needed me, I thought.
Our culture is
constantly in search of instant gratification. Internet providers and
technology developers constantly promise faster response times and greater
capacity. Advertising agencies encourage us to “Live for Now.” Everything must
happen instantly.
Unfortunately,
having an “I need it all and I need it now” attitude doesn’t work very well
when there are problems to be solved, whether they are complex or as simple as
untangling some jump ropes. All have to give a little, wait their turn, and
realize some may have to wait longer than others.
Whether we are
negotiating peace between two countries or waiting in line to fill up at a
crowded gas station, force and aggression create more problems than they solve.
As Christian
stewards, we are often called to model patience. Taking a step back when
everyone else is trying to go first can sometimes tweak our egos. But
ultimately we know we have contributed to a better more equitable result.
The
gratification of doing the right thing and seeing a good result is much more lasting.
One reason it’s called “instant” gratification may be that that’s how long it
lasts.
Dear God:
Remind me that the key to everything is patience.
“You get the
chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.” ~Arnold H. Glasow, American Humorist (1905-1998)
©2013 James E. Carper. All rights reserved.
“90
Second Stewardship” is a reflection on being a Christian Steward in a secular and sometimes
harsh world. This reflection is written by Deacon James E. Carper, Director of
Marketing and Development at Holy Name of Jesus School in south/central Los
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