Y’all I am sitting at the airport in a nasty Spirit Airlines delay, and I posted on FB about Spirit Airlines but it sure looked like I was talking about the Holy Spirit because I have an awful lot of Seminary Friends, so now I am writing about the Holy Spirit and metaphors about “waiting” and really just trying to keep myself busy because Delays. Are. The. Worst.
“Ah, Spirit, how you woo me with your prices and betray me with your delays!”
Well, Spirit, I bought what You were selling. No judgment. Grace. Guiding me into all truth. Etc. Etc.
It sounded like a great bargain – but honestly, I had no idea how long it would all take.
Why is my flight constantly delayed, Spirit?
You told me to trust that at the right time, in the right place, the right things would happen, but my jeans just ripped at the knees when I went to sit down at the only place with an outlet and that is super frustrating so I am super ready to be on this plane now, OK?
I know exactly where I want to go, and I got the ticket, and I fit everything I wanted to take with me into one backpack, and I got here extra early so I wouldn’t miss anything…
And now I am waiting on a floor that has not been vacuumed in like 17 years and the girl next to me is really, really upset that her friend is dating That Guy again and so she is talking about it a lot, and this mom is yelling at her kid and I don’t blame the mom OR the kid, but they are both making a lot of noise. And I just spent $12 for food from McDonalds and now my credit card and my stomach are judging me really hard and also something smells really, really nasty.
So is there something I’m supposed to learn while I am waiting? Is the waiting valuable in and of itself or is it telling me that I should take another flight and spend another night here? Is there a better or a worse way to “wait well” or is there just biding time until the real thing happens and I can get on with my life? Should the delay make me reconsider my destination? Should I make friends with the cute boy sitting across from me because the Delay is just a Meet Cute? What is the right way to wait when really I just want to do the next thing y’all?
And then the big questions: why is there shredded lettuce under the table?
Why is my life full of metaphorical shredded lettuce under tables?
Why do I have to wait when I know where I want to go, and know what I want to have, and know who I want to be?
Well, I have no answers to any of these questions, but maybe part of the answer to a delay in a rainy, freezing airport in the Dark North is to pull out your computer and write about how much you hate delays and how impatient you are and how nasty this place smells, and while you write, the time passes a little bit more pleasantly and you are able to make the in-between, waiting time a little less meaningless.
And if that is part of the answer for literal waiting, probably the answer to metaphorical, vocational, life waiting is similar –
Pull out your computer, write about how much you hate delays, and while you write, the time passes a little bit more pleasantly. And the waiting time gets a little less meaningless.
Also please can we board now please?
