Better is the end of a thing than its beginning; the patient in spirit are better than the proud in spirit – Ecclesiastes 7:8
The book of wisdom known as “Ecclesiastes” takes on many of the aspects of life that we consider common to the human experience. The book looks at what it is to have wealth, love, knowledge, wisdom, yet finds that they all fall short. The book can sometimes be seen as a discouragement to people who place all of their hope and thoughts into the things above, however, if we follow through, what we find is that the most important thing is to have a reverent fear, and deep love, in God.
Only God can right what is wrong, make straight what is crooked, and give life that is abundant and eternal. So, as we look at what it is be patient, as we have all been trying so hard to learn, we come to this verse that starts with what I could jokingly consider the understatement of the year with respects to this on-going pandemic: “better is the end of a thing than it’s beginning.”
As we consider how abruptly life stopped in early March, and how much fear and concern was shared by all, we hoped for an abrupt end, and for life to resume. I remember being hopeful for the church to gather and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord at Easter. However, as spring gave way to summer, and now we are on the cusp of a fall semester beginning, we still are left wondering when the end shall come. All this has made the virtue of patience a common point of learning for many of us.
Many years ago, during a small group discussion on Ecclesiastes, we took a long hard look at what it means to be patient. One of the great ideas that came out of that discussion was this; No one should ever pray for patience. The rational is that when we pray and ask God for virtues to build our character, God doesn’t just grant them. God does, however, gives us many opportunities in which to grow into the qualities or virtues. Therefore, when we pray for patience, we don’t get patience, but opportunities to be patient. As we learn patience, we find that we have more and more of it… or sometimes we are made very aware of how we have not yet learned that lesson.
Regardless, the greater hope is to remember that God is with us, and with our spirits, and therefore we can find the strength to continue this learning opportunity as we wait with patience, anticipation, and hope that life will seem normal once more.
Grace & Peace,
Sam