“Trust in the Slow Work of God”
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way
to something unknown, something new.
Yet it is the law of all progress that is made
by passing through some stages of instability
and that may take a very long time.And so I think it is with you.
Your ideas mature gradually. Let them grow.
Let them shape themselves without undue haste.
Do not try to force them on
as though you could be today what time
— that is to say, grace —
and circumstances
— acting on your own good will —
will make you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new Spirit
gradually forming in you will be.Give our Lord the benefit of believing
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, 1881-1955
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
Above all, trust in the slow work of God,
our loving vine-dresser. Amen.
I imagine many of you are feeling, as I am this week, that the work of God in your life is going very slowly indeed. We are tired. We are stressed. Many of our usual sources of stability are decidedly unstable right now. But God is still God. As the poet says, “Give our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you.” Our times of worship in Morning and Evening Prayer at St. Mary’s are an oasis for those weary of the chaos outside. You are most welcome.
Reserve your place for in-person worship!