Waiting is counter-cultural in today’s world. We expect instant communication, instant gratification. We don’t have time in our 24/7 lives to be put on hold, to wait for anything. Yet, the spiritual life often calls for waiting. Just look at some of the myriad examples in scripture: Noah had to wait for the flood waters to subside before he could open the ark. Abraham and Sarah waited long years for the son of the promise to be born. The children of Israel had to wait forty years after being freed from Egypt before they could enter the Promised Land. Certainly Job’s waiting in his misery must have seemed interminable. The prophets’ lives were full of waiting to see the hand of God fulfill his promises. Mary first waited nine months and then thirty-three years to see what her annunciation from the angel Gabriel was all about. And at his ascension, Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem “until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (Lk.24:49)

Ten days later, on the day of Pentecost, the disciples discovered it was worth the wait, just as Noah and Abraham and Sarah and the children of Israel and Job and the prophets and Mary had before them. The Holy Spirit comes to each of us at the right time, in the right place, when we are ready, open to receive the power of God’s life-giving grace working in the circumstances of our lives. When we experience the living flame of Love touching our hearts, the breath of God inspiring us, the fountain of living water bubbling up from deep within, the wind of the Spirit blowing through our lives, we too know it is worth the wait. So today as we wait, let us pray: “Come, Holy Spirit, come! Come as the fire and enkindle in our hearts a love of the Lord Jesus. Come as the dove and bring to our lives the peace of God. Come as the wind and blow away those clouds of doubt and uncertainty which would keep us from following Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Amen.” (The Rt. Rev. Charles Duvall)