“Words Worth Waiting For”
“Now then, my children, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways. 33 Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not disregard it. 34 Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. 35 For those who find me find life and receive favor from the Lord.”
– Proverbs 8:32-35
Recently, I attended a meeting with some men from all around the country. Our focus is ministry with men and we meet each month in a zoom meeting but twice a year we meet for 2 days face to face at a place designated by the director. This Spring we gathered in Charlotte, NC and this years’ time together did not disappoint! Some things are worth waiting for. Faith matters.
In the course of our conversation we were presented with a list of ‘directives’ attributed to Mother Theresa. People didn’t really know about the work of Mother Theresa and the Sisters of Charity in Calcutta until she won the Nobel Prize in 1979. She lived a long 87 years dying in 1997.
In her later years she wrote books and went on speaking tours and often ended her speeches with words like… “ok… now you’ve heard enough from me… go… go… go now and do something good for God!” And one of the things people noticed at the home for children in Calcutta was a plaque on her wall… with the following words…
+ People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.
+ If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.
+ If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.
+ If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.
+ What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.
+ If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway.
+ The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.
+ Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
What a great list of directives. How good for someone to notice. And then the list got passed around… passed around the world and then someone noticed something else. The words on the plaque on Mother Theresa’s wall were not hers.
They belonged to someone else… a man named Kent Keith who penned them in 1969 when he was in college for a ‘student leadership’ booklet… and the story goes that he didn’t mind Mother Theresa getting some credit because after all… she was way more famous than him… as some words are worth waiting for… and if you want… you can read more of him… as he is still alive and doing good things for God!
The Bible has all kinds of stories about people who waited on God’s word and promises for good things… directives and hopes for all the goodness we can stand. Abraham was promised a land flowing with milk and honey.
His descendants waited a long time. Moses and the Hebrew people wandered in the desert for 40 years before they entered the promised land.
The Messiah was expected long ago and God’s people waited centuries before Jesus fulfilled those promises of God and we still wait for his return … and while we do… it is that same Bible which offers us words worth reading and embracing as directives for our daily living as it seems sometimes God doesn’t care about us like we think God ought… but St. John wrote that we are people who prefer to love the darkness but God loves us anyway…
The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Gigee is a long-time resident of Pearland, having pastored four churches over the last four decades in Texas and Louisiana. Read more following Brian’s blog ‘murmurings’ at https://briangigee.wordpress.com/. Send comments and/or questions to godworks247365@gmail.com.
