Poem August 17, 1981 Issue

Balanced waits

MADORA FAY McKENZIE

I used to wonder:
Why wait?
What for?
Is God holding me at bay?
Did I do something wrong?
Isn't God ready... yet?

Then I saw
the problem lies not
with the waiting,
but with what follows waiting.

Wait for means there is
time
incompleteness
lack
general bad planning

Wait on means
obedience
progress
service
joy

To wait for God
would be like cart before horse—
ray before sun,
son before Father,
effect before cause—
implausible, not causable.

But we do wait on God.
He calls, we answer, and
before we call,
He answers.

MADORA FAY McKENZIE

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August 17, 1981

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