Patience Might not Even be Required

On Saturday night, I NEEDED to get out of the house. I forced my recently single, sad, little self into the company of some friends I hadn't seen in a while.

We went to a party.

[I don't drink, so when I go to parties, I treat myself to things like grape pop, which I enjoyed immensely.]

When we got there, the room was split into 2 teams for a rowdy trivia game. One of our questions was, "How long does it take for a ray of sun shine to reach the earth?"

8 1/2 Minutes.

My friend, Adam, knew the answer, so we got the point! YES! And I thought a lot about sunshine, after that, so I was thrilled.

The next day in church, Mr. Makes-announcements-and-gives-random-trivia told us that, "Hey! Did you know it takes 8 1/2 minutes for a ray of sun shine to leave the sun and reach the Earth??!"

And I said, "Yes, Mr. Makes-announcements-and-gives-random-trivia, I did know that.


So yesterday, during a spot of downtime, I thought about my sunshine coming in. I figured I would just give myself 8 1/2 minutes and I would feel warm and sunny. But I wasn't about to sit for 8 1/2 minutes. I was so still for my last blog entry and I don't know if I can be still much longer. So I compiled a list of things that I could do in 8 1/2 minutes, when I should have just held still...

I could
-Run 1 mile (maybe)
-Read a little book
-Read some bible
-Say a thoughtful prayer
-Put a few stitches in the latest quilt I've been neglecting
-Hang out on Facebook
-Read some ee cummings
-Write a poem
-Call somebody and say hello
-Check the mail and actually read through each junk piece
-Mix up some cookie dough
-Do enough sit ups and push ups to HURT
-Practice braiding my hair
-Make a grilled cheese and eat it
-Go sledding...just a couple times down the back yard hill
-Clean my room
-Do the dishes
-Write a lovely letter to someone I love
-Roll all my change
-Listen to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a Dream" speech
-Make a list of things that take about 8 1/2 minutes.

Bah.
The point is:
When you're waiting for your sunshine, you realize how long 8 1/2 minutes is.
And sometimes the sky is hellbent on raining.




Isn't it peaceful, and comforting, and exciting, and astonishing when you realize that God is instant!