I’m walking into a cable company store to drop off my router and cancel my account. Inside the door, this company has a sign that tells you to press a button, take a ticket and wait.
Waiting for customer service is not one of my strengths. It ranks as “very annoying” and high on my list of complaints. At the counter are five stations in which only three have someone waiting on customers. I notice when one customer had finished, the agent started to mark some papers instead of calling the next number. More waiting. Being ignored also ranks high on my list of complaints. Now only two reps are waiting on customers. Suddenly from the back room, an agent appears at the counter and calls a number. Unfortunately, the other agent leaves her station and we’re back to two servers. Put this compliant on my list. Whenever customer service puts you on hold or worse the phone line gets disconnected—now that’s really annoying.
We are a nation of complainers. Being inconvenienced really stretches our endurance, our patience and respect for people. We need to give ourselves a little pep talk, and tell ourselves that there are far worse injustices being perpetuated around the world, and calmly calm ourselves down. We need to get back into our cars and cool off.
As a photographer, did you ever notice the difference in colors between Advent and Lent. The crimson-purple of advent is not the black-purple of lent. The former symbolizes yearning and longing, the latter repentance. The spirituality of advent is not about repentance, but about carrying tension without prematurely resolving it so that what’s born in us and in our world does not short-circuit the fullness that comes from respecting love’s rhythms.
The crimson-purple is about waiting and how well we hold up in situations not in our control. We look forward to the birth of the Savior, but there’s a tension and pain and lessons to be learned in the waiting period. To reach the sublime moment of Christmas peace, we need to surrender our petty annoyances that reflect our intolerance and criticism of people.
What helps change this selfish attitude is precisely the tension in our lives. In carrying properly our unfulfilled desires we sizzle and slowly let go of the dampness of selfishness. In carrying tension we come to kindling temperature and are made ready for love. Sizzling in tension, not resolving things prematurely. The sublime has to be waited for. Only when there is first enough heat will there be unity. To give birth to what’s divine requires the slow patience of gestation.
Think of how long God has waited for us to come away from our thoughtless, selfish complaints and embraced a spirit that oozes with empathy and forgiveness for customer service folks required to work on holidays and 3am in the morning.
Advent gives us another chance to learn to better handle those waiting moments in our life. When we realize that we have nothing to complain about, we focus our energy on being more compassionate people.
Jesus watches over us as we reflect: “Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding; those who complain will accept instruction.”(Isaiah 29:24).
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who have been routed to the far corners of the earth. May our time on hold make us a better people and respond when service comes back online, “thanks for you time, you’re the best.”
