Delays of love
Many books could be written on the theme “The Delays of Love”. Those who are parents understand this theme very well. Parents do not gratify all of their children’s desires immediately. If they did, not only would they spoil their children, but they would also cheat them. Half of the joy of life is anticipation. If we as parents are too wise to spoil and cheat our children with immediate gratification, surely our Heavenly Father is the same. In the movie “The Lord of the Rings” we encounter a wizard called Gandalf. He is a Christ-like figure who guides others by his wisdom and love, and sacrifices his life to save others. Later in the movie he comes back from the dead in a new and transformed way with more wisdom and power. The movie begins with Gandalf arriving at the village Shire and being greeted by a young hobbit by the name of Frodo Baggins with the words: “You are late”, to which the Gandalf responds: “A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to”. This is a great insight into how our God works. He is never late, nor early, but always on time, on His time.
Boy’s ear infection
A story is told of a four year old boy who developed and ear infection. His father took him to a doctor and was told the infection must be drained. The doctor explained that the procedure would be quite painful, so it would be necessary for the father to hold the child still. The father agreed and took a firm grip on his son. It happened that both of them were facing a mirrored wall, where each could look the other in the face. The father later said that the worst part of the experience was the doubt and disbelief in his little boy’s eyes. He seemed to be saying: “You are supposed to protect me. Instead you are helping this man hurt me. Why?” That temporary misunderstanding was inevitable, because it was impossible to explain the necessity of pain to a four-year-old mind. Is it not reasonable to assume that sometimes things are like that between us and God? To believe in His love and power is a great faith. But to live by that faith, in this our world, is not easy. In order to do that, we must learn that His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. So inevitably there will be times when we do not understand.
There are times in our lives when holding on to our faith will not be easy, and to live by our faith will be even more difficult. In order to do that we must learn to TRUST that God’s LOVE and POWER are active in our lives. It may sometimes seem slow. It may often seem impossible to understand. But at the end, God’s way will prove to be the right way.
Fr. Wojtek Kuzma