The Waiting Place

In honor of my friend Candace who has found herself in that oh too familiar Waiting Place we've all experienced, I feel the need to share the wisdom of our good friend Dr. Seuss from my favorite book.

"You can get so confused that you'll start to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place. . .(dramatic da da da)

The Waiting Place...

for people just waiting. Waiting for a train to go or the bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting for a Yes or a No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting. Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting."

We have all found ourselves in this rather unfortunate place that my dear friend Dr. Seuss defines as The Waiting Place. Waiting for the elevator music to stop playing and lady to stop saying, "your call will be answered in approximately eight minutes or more" for the third time in the past 15 minutes on hold for AT&T, the bank, or all the other lovely numbers we have to call to be put on hold. Waiting to be connected with the operator who gives you a number to call someone else then waiting for the operator there who gives you another number where again you wait for the operator. Waiting in line at Wal-mart or the bank. Or waiting in the doctor's office waiting room. Or waiting for good new or bad. Or perhaps waiting for answers or on a job or on a husband or on directions in life. Whatever the wait, The Waiting Place, I confirm, can be a most unpleasant place. But in those moments of waiting, perhaps God is calling us to trust him, maybe teaching us patience, or maybe He just wants to have us still for a moment so He can whisper softly to us that He loves us and give us a hug. And then...

"No! That's not for you! Somehow you'll escape all that waiting and staying. You'll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing."

Oh the blissful thought of The Escape... I think there will be Boom Bands in Heaven. I also think the sigh of relief after a stay in The Waiting Place sounds a little bit like a Boom Band tune.