The Rev. Joseph Gouin

Pastor, American Martyrs Church, Kingsford

In John’s gospel Jesus uses the expression “A little while” seven times in a few verses. He begins with “a little while you will no longer see me and again in a little while you will see me,” etc.

When we stop to think about it, much of our daily lives are made up of “little whiles.” If we wake up a few minutes before alarm goes off, we realize that in a little while, we have to get up. In taking a shower, we wait a little while for the water to become hot. We put the bread in the toaster, we know that it will be done in a little while. Same with waiting for the coffee to brew.

Throughout the whole day, these little whiles keep occurring. We wait for the red light to change when driving. We wait for a friend to arrive. We wait for an expected phone call. The list goes on!

I was wondering if we could make better use of some of these little whiles and not let the time go to waste. We could begin the day with a little prayer while waiting for the alarm to ring. When waiting for the toast, we could give the Lord thanks for the bread. While waiting for the light to change, we could say a prayer for that jerk that cut us off, etc.

Also, another thing to think about: is it not true that some of the best years of our life seem like just a little while. On personal level, I find that my years here as a pastor seem like just a little while. For most of us some of our happiest days seem such a little while. Today would be a good time to thank the good Lord for his gift to us of so many great little whiles!

God Bless.