James, the ‘brother of the Lord’ and leader of the first Christian community in Jerusalem, always strikes me as being directly connected to the words and teaching of Jesus. He doesn’t say much about the Cosmic Christ but he somehow brings us closer to him through his practical wisdom. With a bit of marketing advice he could have written a bestseller. In today’s reading he sounds like a grandparent whose advice we are influenced by, more than if it came from our parents. “See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be judged…’
We are not raised to understand patience. Everything, from the media’s condemnation of politicians to the way we demand same-day delivery, reveals endemic impatience and how it produces anger and anxiety. There are some things, like the growth of plants or the human embryo that have the patient authority of nature itself when it comes to teaching us how to wait – expectantly without desire – which we can get by learning to say the mantra. James identifies the symptoms of impatience as constant grumbling, judgementalism and negativity towards others which deny the necessary time and gentleness necessary for the process of maturing and healing.
They ask Jesus, ‘tell us, are you the one we are all waiting for or not?’ It is an impatient question. His response shows how he suffers the impatient patiently. Patience means suffering through, enduring, undergoing and waiting calmly. He shows them the only way, how to find the answer to their question from within themselves rather than as a box-ticking reply he provides to briefly satisfy them. Those who are learning patience remain, after the impatient have had enough and left, often turning on themselves and others with a cruel, self-judgemental sense of failure.
He tells us to take the time to read. Reading is a good exercise in patience as you turn the pages at your own speed or, as they sometimes seem, as they turn themselves. The best exercise is inner silence. Patience can often be measured by silence. He says read the signs of the time – understand what I am doing in healing the sick and reviving the dying. Rather than keeping the spotlight on himself as his questioners impatiently do, he then points away from himself to the Baptist.
Maybe like other prophets before and after, John the Baptist couldn’t handle the impatience and greed of his time. He took the way he could best help, himself and them, against the disease of impatience and intolerance. It spreads quickly in confined spaces. And the way then, is to withdraw into the vast inner space where time is steadily lengthened out until it disappears in eternity. The contemplative returns to the patience of the desert to understand patience and not condemn others who don ‘t.
