The Waiting Room

Picture an average waiting room.  The chairs are comfortable enough to sit in for a little while - but not too long, the carpet is dirty, the magazines are dated, the art on the wall is cheesy.  I sit on the edge of my seat, trying not to make eye contact with my fellow prisoners, and, since I usually have my kids with me, I try to keep them from destroying the place or being too loud.  It's a tolerable place;  I can even enjoy it a bit if I don't have my kids along and have a moment of quiet to read a book without being interrupted after each sentence.  But it's not somewhere I would want to stay for long.

This is the world we live in.

We are in the waiting room, the antechamber of our real life: Heaven.  That is why we can never feel totally at home here.

Over my lifetime, and especially the last several months, I have spent a good deal of my time in waiting rooms.  Some are nicer than others.  But there are none that I would want to stay in for longer than an hour, let alone live in. (Except maybe my dentist's office.  His waiting room is really nice and the longer I am there the more I can procrastinate getting in the dentist chair.  He also has good magazines.)

Our citizenship is in Heaven and from it we also await our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Phil 3:20).

We are meant to be strangers here.  But we need this time to prepare to meet our Divine Physician.  We can't still be filling out our paperwork when we are called back for that final appointment, right?  It's hard to tell when your name will be called.  St Maximilian Kolbe said " It is for us to become holy here and now, for we cannot be certain whether we will be here this evening." 

So get comfortable in this worldly waiting room, but not too much.  Remember what we are here for.  Our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.  That restlessness is meant to be a constant reminder, like an itchy sweater for our soul, that there is comfort coming soon.

Use your time well, though, in the waiting room, and it becomes a much nicer experience for everyone there.  And don't forget to fill out your paperwork.