「待つ」ということ

Ours is an age in which, in everything, "speed" is prized. A train is not forgiven even a minute's delay; food is taken for granted to appear within minutes; and when we send a message, we unconsciously expect a reply to come without any interval. And if we are kept waiting even a little, we cannot help feeling irritated. The more convenient things become, the more it seems to me that people are growing unable to endure the act of "waiting."

And yet, looking back, are not many of the things truly valuable in life precisely those that cannot be had at once? Reading a single book slowly and savoring its meaning. Patiently watching over a flower as it blooms after you have sown the seed. Or, taking time to notice the feelings behind another's words. Such experiences are, by their very nature, incompatible with a mind that seeks efficiency.

Measured by the single yardstick of efficiency, all of these might be cast aside as "waste." But it is precisely within that time thought to be "wasted" that there seems to me to lie something which deepens and enriches a person.

To "wait" is not merely to pass the time doing nothing. It is nothing other than an attitude of believing in, and accepting, something that does not go as one wishes. We, who seek immediate results, are apt to overlook the richness that dwells in the process itself.

Come to think of it, the long time in which a child grows into an adult, and the trial and error until a technology bears fruit in a single form, none of it can be achieved without "waiting." Just as the crops of a field do not ripen in a single night, the human heart, too, is not something that grows when it is rushed. In our pursuit of nothing but speed, have we not, before we knew it, forgotten the preciousness of things that ripen slowly?

It is surely the same with the relationships between people. To understand one another and build trust, a long time and the patience to wait for the other person are indispensable. In our craving for ease, we may be letting go of even the importance of facing others unhurriedly.

Of course, I have no intention of denying the benefits speed has brought. It is also a fact that swift responses in the medical field have saved many lives. The problem lies not in speed itself, but, perhaps, in the fact that we make too light of values other than speed. Even as we enjoy convenience, it is surely now, more than ever, that we need the wisdom not to be ruled by it.

Now and then, why not stop and try waiting quietly for something? Hold on to a question that has no immediate answer, leaving it unanswered. Perhaps it is only within that quiet time that the small things we usually overlook first come into view. When we stop hurrying, might not the world show us its rich expression?