“Waiting is not popular. In fact, most people consider waiting a waste of time. Perhaps this is because the culture in which we live is basically saying, “Get going! Do something! Show you are able to make a difference! Don’t just sit there and wait!” For many people, waiting is an awful desert between where they are and where they want to go. And people do not like such a place”.
‘If we look at our world, how much are we really in control? Isn’t our life in large part waiting (and now sheltering-in-place)? As we are entering into another month of fighting this COVID-19 virus, it seems that there are more and more people in our society who have less and less influence on the decisions that affect their own existence. It becomes almost necessary to recognize that the largest part of our existence involves waiting in the sense of being acted upon.
The life of Jesus tells us that not to be in control is part of the human condition. His vocation was fulfilled not just in action but also in passion, in waiting.’
(Caravaggio, The Taking of Christ, 1602)