Article April 28, 1997 Issue

"Patience is gain"

Martin K. Budu-Kwatiah

While working in Nigeria in the early sixties, I learned something about patience. A Lagosian market woman explained to me that at one time a kindhearted elderly man settled in the hamlet that is now the teeming suburb of Lagos known as Surulere. This man was considered to be full of trust in God, and no matter what he was talking about, the words "be patient and you'll win" or "have patience and you'll triumph" would crop up. People from far and near who frequented his home for advice would speak affectionately of going to "Suru-lere," by which they meant "Patience is gain."

Indeed, patience is gain, isn't it? Patience resolves misunderstandings and disputes because it enables the spirit of cooperation and understanding to prevail. Patience lets us live in harmony and tranquillity and experience the blessings of peace, which are joy, lovingkindness, forbearance, and compassion.

Patience is a lovely characteristic. As sons and daughters of the one Father-Mother God, we are endowed with this enduring spiritual quality. So it is natural for us to express patience in all our activities. But do we always show this grace of patience in our aspirations or encounters? And are we thinking of and valuing patience in its highest sense?

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