Waiting is something that we all have to do, and as a general rule itʼs something that we 

donʼt like doing. However, like it or not, it has always been a part of life, and has always 

been a part of faith. From Noah waiting to get out of the ark, to early Christians waiting for 

Jesus to return, waiting is something that we all have to deal with. 

Whenever we are obliged to wait, there are some fundamental questions that nag at us in 

our impatience: how long is it reasonable to wait? What should I do while I wait? Am I look- 

ing for the right thing? 

I once sat for an hour in the entrance hall of the City of London museum for my American 

cousin, Andrew, who I had not seen since childhood. It was before the age of mobile 

phones. I assumed I would recognise him, but wasnʼt confident about that. I considered 

wandering round the museum rather than sitting in the entrance, and all the while I won- 

dered at what point I should give up waiting*. These are the fundamental questions of wait- 

ing. 

Waiting is one of the traditional themes of the Christian season of Advent, which comes 

before Christmas. During advent, Christians look back at the Jewish prophetsʼ wait for a 

Messiah, and look forward to the promised return of Jesus. In November we will explore 

some of these traditional themes while keeping an eye on the everyday experiences of 

waiting that challenge and frustrate us all. 

This will not be a month for clear answers and firm advice. The very challenge of waiting is 

that it is riddled with uncertainty. As the writer of Ecclesiastes might have put it: there is a 

time for waiting and a time for moving on; there is a time for being active and a time for be- 

ing passive. And sometimes we discover that we have been waiting for the wrong thing, or 

looking in the wrong place. But one thing is sure - we will all have to wait at times, and 

growing God-given patience can only help. 

On the second Sunday of the month we have Remembrance Sunday. For that we will ex- 

plore the related theme of ʻwaiting for peaceʼ - a universal activity that touches on all three 

of the questions that will feature on the other weeks. 

* It turned out that Andrew had gone to look round the museum, leaving his uncle in the 

entrance hall waiting for me. His uncle had been sitting next to me all along!