To wait is not our specialty in twenty-first century America. We are all about the Now. Or even about five minutes ago. Why isn’t it here yet? Allowing time to yield its harvest seems to be the hardest lesson to learn.

We are drowning under our illusion of control. We think there is so much we can do, and when things don’t happen fast enough, we turn against ourselves and think we should be doing more, that we could have done more.

But waiting is written into creation. Very little happens with immediacy. Farmers sow their seeds, and those seeds may yield a harvest months later if the conditions are right. We stand under the shade of trees and forget the years that grew them. We marvel at the night sky without considering the uncountable years that have brought the starlight to our eyes.

I am in awe of these robin’s eggs. Someday they will hatch, but in the waiting, they are beautiful.