Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12
“A growing intimacy with God deepens our sense of responsibility for others. It evokes in us an always increasing desire to bring the whole world with all its suffering and pains around the divine fire in our heart and to share the revitalizing heat with all who want to come. But it is precisely this desire that requires such deep and strong patience. The painter Vincent van Gogh powerfully expresses the disicipline of patient prayer when he writes this to his brother Theo:
‘There may be a great fire in our soul, yet no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passers-by only see a wisp of smoke through the chimney, and go along their way. Look here, now, what must be done? Must one tend the inner fire, have salt in oneself, wait patiently yet with how much impatience for the hour when somebody will come and sit down near it—maybe to stay? Let him who believes in God wait for the hour that will come sooner or later.’
One of the most powerful experiences in a life of compassion is the expansion of our hearts into a world-embracing space of healing from which no one is excluded. When, through discipline, we have overcome the power of our impatient impulses to flee or to fight, to become fearful or angry, we discover a limitless space into which we can welcome all the people of the world. Prayer for others, therefore, cannot be seen as an extraordinary exercise that must be practiced from time to time. Rather, it is the very beat of the compassionate heart.”
Henri Nouwen in Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life (New York: Image Doubleday, 1983) 107.
Today is my last post from this book. As one who appreciates the paintings and the limited writings of Vincent van Gogh, I love that Henri quoted Vincent on this topic of patient prayer.
This may well be the greatest gift that we can give to a broken an hurting world to show that everyone matters, no one is excluded. We can practice patient prayer. As believers in God, we can wait patiently with Vincent. Why do this?
Many of the troubles around us relate to systemic issues. The human temptation is to fight back, to revolt, to point fingers, or to throw stones. But does that really get us anywhere? Do we really make any progress?
In his paintings, Vincent tried to capture the beauty and brokenness in the world simultaneously, so I can picture him waiting patiently. Hoping. Praying. Sadly, I think many have given up waiting on God. They appear to be taking matters into their own hands.
Let’s be different. Let’s be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. Let’s do this in a word lacking in hope, angry in affliction, and that seems to have abandoned patient prayer. These are neither the first hard times in history nor the last.
So, as God stretches us and fills our hearts with compassion for all that is not right, let’s generously give ourselves to patient prayer if, that is, we believe in God.