Galatians 5: 22- 23: The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness, self-control…

I took the car into the dealership for an oil change and tire rotation.  While reading a book in the customer lounge, a man, perhaps in his 30’s, was becoming increasingly agitated.  Soon he went out into the area where the clerk worked and a couple of other people.  He began to grow more and more angry and to berate the staff.  His patience, which was thin to begin with, had worn away.

In know there is an anxiety when a person drives your car away to who knows where and you can do naught but wait.  I think there may be even more anxiety over one’s car disappearing than going to the hospital for some repair work on your body.

I also thought of a man at the Walgreens I frequent.  He was letting the pharmacist know how dissatisfied he was.  He was taking his business elsewhere.  I don’t imagine that was a great loss for Walgreens, since I’m sure I keep the corporation afloat by myself.

I thought of the person on the receiving end of the blistering.  Because they had to greet the next customer with a smile and take care of their situation.

But there are times when I’ve been impatient.  I walked out of my endocrinologists office after a three hour wait.  The problem was that as soon as I got home I had to make another appointment, because I had to meet the Medicare requirements.

At such times the joke prayer, “Lord, give me patience and give it to me right now.” is a valid petition.  When we lose our patience, we need the Holy Spirit to administer a dose immediately.  In fact, the more I think of it, I need something like my insulin pump filled with a steady stream of patience.  Perhaps Medtronic is working on a patience pump right now. I hope they hurry.