Seasonal Seasick Steve

From Vicky Beeching Theologian, Writer and Broadcaster:

I just got back from a trip to America. Celebrating Thanksgiving there was a lot of fun, but since getting home I’ve been dealing with the downside of travel - jet lag. 

Lying awake the past few nights at 3am, I’ve tried everything to make myself fall asleep. Counting sheep. Drinking warm milk. Some people even recommend standing barefoot on the grass to reconnect yourself with the rhythms of the Earth. I’ve given it all a go, but so far nothing’s worked. 

Scientists say it usually takes one day per hour of time-difference to re-adjust. So, much as I’d love a miracle cure, there’s really only one solution for jet-lag - and that's to wait.

Waiting isn’t something that comes naturally to us in our instant culture. It’s a lost art. We get news within seconds on our smartphones. Frustration kicks in if wifi takes more than a moment to refresh a web page. Today, fast is good, slow is bad.

The season of the Christian calendar we’re in right now is called Advent. This comes from the Latin word ‘adventus’ meaning arrival and it’s all about waiting. During Advent Christians remember how the Israelites waited for a Messiah before the birth of Christ, and that the Church still awaits the day when Jesus will return to Earth again.

When I was little, I remember how difficult waiting for Christmas felt - I’d keep going to the tree in our living room and poking and rattling the gifts beneath it, desperately curious about what was inside. In my most mischievous moments I’d even tear off a small corner of the paper to peek inside.

During this season of Advent I want to get better at the art of waiting. Not just for Christmas and all the fun it’ll bring, but in my entire approach to life. As this year ends and a new one begins, I want to remember that good things take time and a meaningful life can’t be built overnight. It’s easy to only put energy into things that give fast results - it’s less fashionable to work on what’ll take 10 or 20 years to grow and develop. 

Catholic priest Henri Nouwen once wrote that: “Waiting is a period of learning”. In many cases the longer it lasts, the more we learn. To most of us, it’s just an inconvenience. But if we choose to view it as a gift - and even as a teacher in disguise - embracing the ‘lost art of waiting’ might lead to some interesting discoveries in the year ahead.