Dear Friends,

Despite being an optimistic sort of person I am always suspicious of Christians who are always cheerful and enthusiastic and never seem to have a low day. Some people are very clever at disguising their inner pain and retain a smile even though their heart is breaking. Many Christians do know desolation. They have seen long held hopes come to nothing. Either their own marriage perhaps, or that of a near relative or friend has entered a bleak period to which there seemed no end.

A church’s vision for the future has lacked the people or the money to put it into effect. Countless people have suffered loss and injury in Haiti. Some have seen loved ones going to war in places like Iraq or Afghanistan and have had to learn how to live in the ‘Interim’. A drug addiction or depression of a son or daughter has created a Good Friday for which there seemed to be no Easter Day.

As we recently looked at the post Easter appearance to the two on the road during the week of prayer for Christian Unity we were reminded of the tired despair of Cleopas and his companion. The disciples on the Emmaus road were in this 'interim period’; their lives were in turmoil- especially as they had heard rumours of Jesus appearing to some after being dead and buried.

How do we survive when our lives are shattered by loss?

The New Testament has an answer. In the Greek it is called ' makrothumia'; in our English versions it is translated as 'patience' or 'long suffering'. (2 Corinthians 6.6 and Hebrews 6.13). But it has none of the lack of decision, which 'Patience' can imply, and none of the ‘teeth-gritting' that 'long suffering' can suggest. William Barclay described it as 'the ability to endure delay and bear suffering and never give in'.

Jesus needed makrothumia to live creatively when few understood his message. Amos needed makrothumia to continue to preach in a God rejecting society, Jeremiah when he was thrown down a pit to silence him. Nelson Mandela showed it during his years in prison.

We can better develop this virtue when we realise that makrothumia is an attribute of God. Peter (1 Peter 3.20) attributes it to God in waiting. God has patience with his people. Jesus told his disciples before his Ascension to go to Jerusalem and wait there. It is the gift of God to us, as it was to the disciples to simply wait upon God in Christ in all circumstances - the gift of steadfast waiting.

Shalom,

Chris