a place of waiting

I was at the airport yesterday--with more time to wait than expected. So with an iced latte and my journal, I sat in the seats outside the exit from the B gates....off and on a group of people would gather in a semi-circle as close as they could, to watch for their expected 'person,' or 'people.' Waiting takes the same stance almost everywhere....and there is always the shifting back and forth from leg to leg. I like the fact that this photo is fuzzy--because this is the fuzzy time of the experience--the time the 'waiters' won't really remember later when they look back at the time their friend or loved one came to stay....or came home from a long trip. We tend to remember moments on either side of this 'waiting' rather than the end of the waiting time...which is this really represents.


Other times of our life include waiting...births and deaths--and many moments in between. I met a man today who wanted to die. He had a disease that would, in the end, take his life--but he didn't want to wait out the agony he was in his short future. He too was shifting from foot to foot. I hope he waits it out--though it is not mine to say and I will likely not see him again. He mostly stopped by to announce his agony in waiting--he didn't even share his name. I will hold him in my prayers and place a prayer tag on the tree in my prayer garden. I trust his name is known and I hope I will meet him again in the coming and going of our small downtown. It has been a strange day.