gaining from the waiting

do you know about
The Last Guardian?

it’s this game
that’s infamously been
in development
since 2007;
spiritual successor to
2001’s Ico and
2005’s Shadow of the Colossus

it was originally slated
for release in 2011,
then pushed back,
moved from system
to system,
and re-slated in 2015
for release in 2016, October,
then delayed once again
until December, 2016 –
mere days away
as i write these words

now, you may have predicted that
i’m one of the
eager anticipators
of this game –
one of the many who
*loved*
Ico and Shadow of the Colossus,
and if so,
your prediction is correct

you may have also predicted that
i’m one of the many
who find this
waiting excruciating;
but if so,
your prediction is not correct

not only are these games
suuuuuuuuper zzzennnnnnnn,
attracting and instilling a sense
of calm reflection,
antithetical to things like
excrutiating over waiting,
i also like to think
that this particular
waiting situation,
like other, bigger,
more well known waiting situations,
is generally a *good* thing –
a thing to be embraced,
benefitted from,
enlarged by

how so?

consider:
“absence makes the
heart grow fonder;”
so too waiting

consider:
since 2001,
i’ve had the pleasure
of playing through
The Last Guardian‘s
spiritual precursors
several times,
enjoying their
artistic vision,
their quiet, sublime statements
about love, loss, life

even now,
mere days away
as i write these words,
i’m taking
yet another opportunity
to revisit them –
like a ritual meant
to more than remind,
but to ingrain
essence,
to create and underline
identity,
to birth and stoke
love,
to form
followers fit for waiting,
because:
such things are fit for followers
and waiting for such things
is worth the wait

do you know about
Jesus?

he’s this random guy
who claimed to be God
like 2,000ish years ago

these old stories about him
say he died, but came back to life,
and he’s supposed to be returning
sometime to sort of set
everything with the world
right

now, you may have predicted that
i’m one of the
eager anticipators
of his return,
but i bet now you know
that i don’t find this
waiting excruciating

i bet now you know
that i think it’s
part of the point

i bet now
you’re thinking of
rituals –
Sunday morning meetings,
bread and cup,
witnessing to the
ends of the earth –
rituals to ingrain,
to create and underline,
to birth and stoke,
to form
followers fit for waiting,
because:
such things are fit for followers
and waiting for such things
is worth the wait

i bet now,
i hope now,
in waiting situations,
you’ll get
suuuuuuuuper zzzennnnnnnn
and
calmly reflective,
and
benefit from,
get enlarged by,
the gaining from the waiting