Saint Mark

" You must be willing to wait for people to understand what you teach as you teach them." 2 Timothy 4:2b

Patience. Not something I have a lot of, although the older I get the more I gain at least in certain circumstances. A longer view helps, and yet I am rarely patient with the healing process or any other process that won't go according to my plan. It has been a great gift to have a companion in life who is exceptionally patient and who understands how to wait for healing and revelation. My husband Mark has taught me a great deal about enjoying the here and now, while waiting for the full picture to be revealed.

Today is the feast day of Saint Mark, the man who was probably a cousin of Barnabas. Beside authoring the gospel, Mark is attributed with being one of the servants that held a water jug at the wedding of Cana, one of the seventy that Jesus sent out, the young man who fled the garden of Gethsemane naked and it was to his house that the risen Christ came and revealed himself. We know that Mark is attributed with the founding of the Church in Alexandria and his symbol is a lion. Much of his life, it seems, he lead by compassionate participation, and a willingness to tell others the story with concise simplicity.

Today, I pray that I can live with patience and compassion. Saint Mark took the story of God's love for the world wherever he went, living that love and compassion and today I would like to follow his example. We humans need to be told, over and over again of God's love for us. We need to hear the story through action, through lived compassion and not just through words. And we all need to know God's patience with us, as shown in the pateince we have for one another. May this bright Saturday be a day when love is lived large through kind actions and gentle ways, the ways of God.