So much of our lives seem to be taken up with waiting.  We wait for the light to turn; for the service to arrive; for the baby to come; for the day to be over.  We wait in grocery lines and at theaters; for phone calls and emails; for the seasons to change and for the project to be done.  We wait.

I can’t help but imagine what the disciples must have felt on this day following Jesus’ death.  They were waiting, but it’s unclear if they really knew what they were waiting for.  Jesus had promised them that he would rise again, but surely, they had no comprehension of the actual meaning of his words.  So, they waited.  In sadness and confusion – they waited.  In darkness and emptiness – they waited.  With faith and hope – they waited.

Thinking about this makes me realize that time spent waiting is graced time, not wasted time.  Not even the Son of God could be raised instantly.  There was a time of necessary waiting.  It’s the necessary part of the waiting that we often dismiss.  Nothing in life is instant.  There is a necessary gestation period for every living thing, a waiting, if you will, that must be part of the progression of life.

Can we begin to see our periods of waiting as graced moments where new life is growing within us rather than thinking they are wasted moments and lost to us forever because we have not received what we were waiting for right now?

This day is a lesson in waiting.  Waiting in love; waiting in faith; and waiting with hope against hope that new life truly does come from death.