Have you thought of “patience” as a spiritual practice?  This quote from Henri Nouwen arrived in my email yesterday and gave me a new perspective on “patience.”

“Patience is not waiting passively until someone else does something. Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient, we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later, and somewhere else. Let’s be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand.”

It also gave me some perspective on “impatience.”  Is impatience trying to avoid the present moment as Nouwen suggests?  Is patience part of fully opening ourselves to the present?

What might you miss today if your impatience takes you away from the present moment?

(Source: email from Sojourners, sojo.net, on April 24, 2012, subject:Verse and Voice Daily Scripture and Compelling Quotes)