Richard Littledale
Richard Littledale
radio microphone
BBC Radio 2Janice Long Show
Alex Lester Show
Pause for Thought
Richard Littledale: Series 25, Number 2
previous edition | index | next edition

Wednesday 2 October 2013

Every once in a while I pull up behind car and there in front of me is a bumper sticker which seems like it was put there just for me : "God give me patience - and HURRY!".

The other day I was waiting for my brand new shiny phone to arrive. I was told it had left the depot with the courier at 9.06 in the morning. 11 o clock came and went - no phone. Lunch time came and went - no phone. The afternoon wore on, and at half past 5, there was a ring on the doorbell and there was my new toy.

No sooner had I shut the front door behind the courier than I was ripping off the cardboard box, slipping in the SIM card and setting it up. Contacts transferred I sent the text to get the whole thing activated, and the waiting began all over again.

Bed time came and went, and the message on the screen was that the SIM card was not working. In the morning it was still saying the same thing. In the end, I had to ring up the helpline and they agreed to send out a replacement. Only then did I have a last minute thought. Why was the SIM card poking out like that from its little slot, I wondered? I turned it over, slid it back in, and the new phone sprang to life. Oh dear - I am so glad the customer service desk couldn't see the colour of my face when I rang up to explain my error.

Very few of us do well in a hurry, and often we get so much more out of life by just taking a breath. A long long time ago, Jesus called in to see two friends of his - Mary and Martha. Martha was dashing in and out of the room organising this and that, and getting really cross with her sister who just sat quietly at the feet of Jesus. Turning to her, he told her not to worry, but to take a leaf out of Mary's book, who had chosen just to sit and listen.

I think I need to learn some of Mary's patience - but I hope I can do it quickly!

rjl signature


© BBC 2013
This talk by Richard Littledale was first broadcast as BBC Radio 2's night time "Pause for Thought"
at 01:30 during the Janice Long show and at 03:30 during the Alex Lester show.
It is reproduced here by permission of the BBC.