Blessed Are the Patient

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A woman in the kitchen baking bread
A farmer in the field sowing seed
Both know they must trust to
Tiny miracles of fermentation and germination
Jesus says—
This is how the kingdom of heaven comes
Quiet and slow, almost unobserved
Nothing like tramping armies on the march
Or the inane noise of political campaigns
Violence is swift and lies are loud
So the kingdom of heaven is slow and quiet
Blessed are the patient
For theirs is the way of heaven
Blessed are the patient
For they’ll be proved wise
Blessed are the patient
For time is on their side
Instead of fighting, striving, conniving
They can wait for the bread to rise
They can wait for the wheat to ripen
Causes, crusades, and campaigns cannot wait
And for this reason they cannot be wise
“Fools rush in where angels fear to tread”
Those in a hurry to change the world
Just make the world more of what it is—
Loud and proud and bound
To the powers that be
So Jesus alludes to something other
A woman in her kitchen sipping tea
A farmer on the porch with his pipe
She’s waiting for the bread to rise
He’s waiting for the rains to come
And Jesus whispers—
This is the way to be
Blessed are the patient
For they do it right
Blessed are the patient
For they keep their peace
Blessed are the patient
For they change the world
(Without even knowing it)