Wimberry Pie

I’m not good at waiting. When the post arrives I’m there ready to open it straight away. If it’s a parcel then I have to get through the tape and in to the contents quickly to see what’s inside. Sometimes, of course, it’s a disappointment; like the time I ordered gluten free cornets for ice-cream and they were broken when they arrived, a box of bit’s with nowhere for ice-cream; but mostly it’s good and welcome.

Colin is very different. He can wait. He puts post in the basket by the front door and leaves it, unopened, sometimes for day’s, sometimes until I put it in his hand.

I don’t know if you have seen the self-help books around at the moment; The Sixty Second father, Teach Yourself to Paint in Six Weeks, How to Grow Rich Quick!
We seem to want to do everything in a hurry.

My grandmother used to make a wonderful wimberry pie. I haven’t seen or heard of wimberry’s for many years now but they were only around for a short season. When I asked for a wimberry pie out of season I’d be told I had to wait until they were in season and I had to accept that. Now we don’t have to eat seasonally; tomatoes are around all year, strawberries and raspberries too and most other fruit and vegetables.

We live in a culture that has forgotten how to wait. We have a mind-set that we can have what we want when we want it. Shops are open for 24 hours and we can order on line.

Waiting isn’t a waste of time. It allows us time to be still, to listen, to take stock of things and to re-evaluate our wants and needs; to become aware of our flaws. To gaze and wonder.

I read this week of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux who advised people to be reservoirs and not channels. Channels let the water flow away until there is not a drop left. A reservoir is first filled and then without emptying itself, pours its overflow over the fields it renews. The reservoir is refilled by rivers and rain. It is very rare for a reservoir to fully dry up.

I have a drawing that I use at times in Keystone meetings. It’s a drawing of an empty cup, tilted towards the person looking. It simply says “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” For the Keystone carers it is a message to look after themselves, to take time to refill before giving out again. Recently, on Facebook a cartoon has appeared. It shows a mobile phone with it’s battery in red and asks the question “You wouldn’t let your phone run out of energy would you?” next to the phone is a cartoon person with a low battery symbol, looking totally worn out. We need to be constantly refilled.

It is God who refills us, who keeps us topped up if we come to Him regularly, daily; to pray and listen.

Waiting with God enables us to accomplish far more than if we are burning ourselves out in good works. For God fills the reservoir with love, grace, strength and saving power.

So, don’t feel guilty if you are sitting waiting and wondering. Take time to be with God and be nourished and refilled by Him and be a reservoir rather than a channel.

Jane