Patience

‘Patience is a virtue; possess it if you can,’ goes the saying, but what is patience? It’s the capacity of a person or persons to tolerate delay, trouble or suffering without becoming angry or upset. Galatians 5:22 includes it as part of the ‘fruit of the Spirit’. Equated with it Paul the Apostle lists these qualities: love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; although I believe patience is partly to do with self-control, because it can be fostered through the efforts of those who desire patience.

When I was young my patience was minimal; I wanted things to happen right away; for me there was no time to waste, because life was short, but developing patience as a part of my character has been a worthwhile goal. Without patience, how can one cope with today’s traffic? Perhaps, because of the vast increase in the number of vehicles that cram our roads, there’s been an increase in so-called, ‘road rage’, which simply means an increased loss of temper by those unable to tolerate delay or the antics of certain drivers. They vent their anger by being abusive and aggressive; in some cases deliberately crashing their cars into other cars, or physically injuring those perceived to have caused delay or offence.

I’m trying to control my patience as I wait for the time when my yacht ‘Bumper’ will be launched into the River Crouch for trials in preparation for her summer cruise. Yet more patience will be required during the preparatory period until I am convinced everything concerning the boat is satisfactory.

Yet more patience will be needed as my crew and I sail towards the Scilly Isles, with the objective of achieving a satisfying cruise there and back. No doubt my crew will have to be patient with me, and I with him. He is very young and I am old. We come from different generations with different understandings and standards, but I’m sure we shall learn from each other - providing we are both patient.