Be patient then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming.  See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.  You, too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near (James 5:7-8).

When I was a little kid my grandparents took me to see Zorba the Greek.

I don’t know why…maybe they couldn’t find a babysitter.

I didn’t understand most of it, which is probably for the best, but one song planted itself deep in my brain. It is called The Butterfly, and it tells of a man who finds a cocoon.  The man is so excited to free the butterfly within the cocoon that he warms it in his hands, breathing on it to speed things along.  

I don’t know if that would work in real life, but it does in the song.

The cocoon opens, but the butterfly is not yet fully developed.  Instead of a beautiful, graceful creature, the man holds a tattered, unfinished life that dies in his hands.  His lament,

All at once I discovered his delicate wings were all crumpled and torn,

When he still wasn’t ready I had made him be born

haunted my little kid self, and has stuck with me since.  

Beloved, your Lord has a plan.  A plan for your life, and a plan for this world.  He hasn’t forgotten you, and he hasn’t cast you aside, and he hasn’t put you on the back burner until he gets around to you.

He is thinking of you constantly, and he is asking you to be patient while his plan unfolds.

Trust him, Beloved.  He’s worth the wait.

Happy Thursday.