I always admired patience in people,
wishing to be one of those
who were not hasty to judge
but quick to understand and accept
in a liberating way.
Time after time, day after day
they were kind and gentle
accepting me as I was.
What a mistake!
Now I am in the process
of being shaped patient.
Now I realize there is no quick fix,
no instant recipe for a patient heart.
Time, pain and endurance
are the only real ingredients.
Hope is the bowl in which
they are stirred and mixed
until the virtue of patience
slowly begins to rise.
I have stopped fighting against pain,
fighting against things I can not change.
I bow my head humbly in front of Life
since I know I am being shaped
into what I always wanted to be.
Like a piece of clay in the master's hand
my soul quietly receives a new form,
following the thoughts of the master,
painfully but full of hope and joy.
I know I can not create patience myself,
there is nothing in me that could be used
to create a virtue.
I admire patience in people more than ever,
since I know how they have received it.
I am receiving it now.
Somehow, in the middle of pain and endurance,
great hope and joy dwell in my heart.
I recognize this is what is called patience.
Why did I never get the message
that patience creates such a joy?
I thought patient people were just humble
but now I remember how joy flickered in their eyes.
