Sue Monk Kidd: Waiting
“Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life.”
—Simone Weil.
I decided to read Sue Monk Kidd’s book, When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life’s Sacred Questions, as a break from the intensity of the last book I studied, John Sanford’s Mystical Christianity: A Psychological Commentary on the Gospel of John; but here again I am fooled. I have found myself underlining most of Kidd’s book.
She reminds us of biblical waiters, Noah, Mary, Moses, Sarah, Jacob, Paul, the father and mother of the prodigal son—all who had to wait for God’s answers for them. She reminds us of G. K. Chesterton’s writing that praising and connecting to God is less a doxology, a short hymn of praise, than it is a paradoxology. The paradox is that we achieve the most and relate best to God by standing still!
When I visit with spiritual friends, I hope to offer Kidd’s prayer of waiting, remembering Jesus’ words to his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane from Mark 14:32: “Sit here, while I pray.” We only need to sit while Jesus prays for us, particularly the Jesus within us that will pray for us while we wait. If we are having difficulty doing this, Jesus reminds us of the community that surrounds us. Jesus is telling us to follow his example and ask friends to come and pray with us while we wait; and if we are that friend, to make the offer. We are also promised “a great cloud of witnesses” which is always around us, praying and waiting with and for us. Jesus reminds us that we do not need to wait and pray alone.
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