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Usually at this stage after an election there has been a flurry of overnight activity as results have been announced and commentators have dissected them in fine detail. But this year the count has only just begun. We will get some results today, and others over the weekend. It fits with the spirit of the last year – waiting. We waited for infection rates to come down, we waited for lockdown restrictions to be eased and to move into lower levels or tiers, we waited for the chance to go places (coffee shop, hairdresser or whatever), we waited for the chance to see people, we waited for our vaccinations. Some are still waiting for some of those things. Waiting isn’t easy. Patience has been sorely tried in many cases. For some people the wait was in vain – the person they hoped to see was no longer there to see them. As we look forward and think about all the issues that need to be addressed – some arising directly from the pandemic (impact on education, jobs, mental health etc), some in existence before it appeared (climate emergency, poverty, inequalities etc) – how ready are we as a community, country and world to wait patiently for something to happen, how much are we expecting action quickly, and how much are we prepared to push for something to happen?
Lord, your sense of time is different from ours. We find waiting hard. Help us to be patient when we need to be, but find that hard. It is especially hard to be patient when we are confronted with suffering, injustice or need: in such situations we want things done quickly to put them right. Though we don’t have magic wands to create a perfect world in an instant, we don’t want to see things postponed for years. Inspire all those who are in decision-making positions to focus on addressing the injustices and inequalities in our society and world, and inspire us to do what we can to address them too
PS Anchorage at Tanera Mor, Wester Ross
