From the recording The Waiting Room
I’ve waited in countless rooms with people on their worst days. In my years as a hospital chaplain, I had a front-row seat to some of the most horrific things people face every day. It was my job to look for light in these dark places and bear witness to it. I believed this before, but it became abundantly clear during those years that there is a sacred presence (I would call that presence God) in the waiting. God skips the useless platitudes and stays with us, patiently working overtime to make Love’s presence known. And as much as no one ever wants to wait in these rooms, there is a gift in the waiting because the divine waits with us. Is that too much for the bridge and a verse of a 4-minute song? Probably. But I felt like I had to write it anyway.
Lyrics
VERSE 1
It's a long, empty waiting in a quiet lonely room
With humming fluorescents and laminate wood
Chicken soup philosophy hangs crooked on the wall
Hours passing slowly, winter overtaking fall
CHORUS
I'm holding on; I'm letting go. Already and not yet.
Sometimes I remember; and other times I still forget
I'm made in the image of the one who's making me
So, I'll just stay here waiting patiently
VERSE 2
Another person enters, talking loudly on her phone
Then whispers, suddenly aware she isn't here alone
She’s stuck here in her waiting, and she’s not the only ones
Certainty unravels, and familiar comes undone
CHORUS 2
We're holding on; we're letting go. Already and not yet.
Sometimes we remember; and other times we still forget
We're made in the image of the one who's making us
We'll stay here in the waiting, however long we must
BRIDGE
Maybe in the waiting the sacred doesn't wait
To reveal what's always been, that we are loved with no debate
While the time moves slowly, there's a love that still remains
That lights the darkest darkness with a light that never fades
VERSE 3
We look around and see there’s others waiting here as well
The room becomes a chapel, prayers are ringing like a bell
And patience meets our waiting, with a hope that brings release
And we realize the waiting is the gift we couldn't see
CHORUS 3
We're holding on; we're letting go. Already and not yet.
Sometimes we remember; and other times we still forget
We're made in the image of the one who's making us
So, we'll stay here in the waiting, and Love is waiting here with us