We tend to view waiting as an uninvited and unwelcome interruption to our busy life.  Waiting in traffic, or in line at the store, or in a doctor’s office . . . these are often experienced as a suspension of life while we await “getting on with” whatever needs to happen next.  What if, however, the experience of waiting is viewed through the lens of faith?  What do we find, for example, when we explore the Bible for mentions of waiting?  And who waits?  We wait, that seems clear — but what about the God who waits?  This short course (just three 75-minute sessions) will explore waiting as an active posture of faith and will seek to show how faithful people of God have always been in the waiting game, and how God, also, is one who waits.  The course is designed and timed as a liturgical segue into the Season of Advent in 2020 — a season in which waiting is a prominent theme.

The Spiritual Discipline of Waiting.  The principal book for this is:
† Henri Nouwen’s The Path of Waiting. Paul just realized this is apparently out of print.  We will try to supply you with an extensive outline of the book.  No need to pay high prices for this book.  Paul will be in touch prior to the class to help you get the outline he made some years ago.

though I will also use materials from:
† A wide variety of ancient and contemporary voices (Desert Abbas and Ammas, Carlo Carretto, Thomas Merton, James Finley, and others)
† Margaret Guenther's My Soul In Silence Waits
† Simone Weil’s Waiting for God
† W. H. Vanstone’s The Stature of Waiting