September 4, 2003

Dear Friends in Christ!

It is the little things that trigger my thoughts and set me to writing many of our newsletters, the observations I make as I move about the city or visit partners. I had a meeting across town today. It was a ten-minute walk, two metro rides, and a tram ride away. The trip was uneventful, no snags. As the tram pulled up to my stop, though, I noticed that trams traveling in the other direction were backed up, at least a dozen of them, waiting. I don’t know what it is about this particular section of this particular tram-line, but it is not unusual to see a probka (the Russian word for “traffic jam”). Sitting on the trams were old people, waiting, patiently waiting. Most of the young had already gotten off in search of another form of transportation. Forty-five minutes later, as I was coming out of my meeting, I saw the line of trams remained. Individual cars had moved forward, and perhaps broken free, but the problem had not eased.

Russians, particularly the old, are good at waiting. They have a long history of waiting and have a great deal of patience with the trying delays that would send many Americans into a rage. In the old days, there were the endless lines to buy goods. Today, as more and more people have cars and more and more people move into Moscow (some estimate that there are as many as 16 million in the city now), there are invariably probkas of one kind or another.

I don’t know about you, but I heard a lot about the virtues of patience when I was growing up. I think my own children hear about it now. It is not, though, a virtue that I have been abundantly blessed with. I am not particularly patient. One of the things I struggle with here is being on time. I have never liked to be late for meetings. I don’t mind waiting for others, but I don’t want them waiting for me. In Russia, being late for appointments is normal and unavoidable. I have had to dig down deep to find some of that patience that Russians have.

On my way home, I stopped at a kiosk in one of the underpasses to buy something. As I chatted with the clerk, I realized that someone was shouting only a few yards from me. With a glance, I knew that it was an old woman who had given up on patience. I commented that it happens, and the clerk responded, “Yes, every day.” Mental illness is all too prevalent. So many just snap when they can’t take the endless frustrations anymore. There are those who try to escape from the frustrations through alcohol, but the frustrations just well up against those they love: Family violence is a terrible problem in Russia. Perhaps there is a middle ground someplace between quiet resignation and rage, but here people will still have to wait whether they are calm or not, so it’s better to be patient. The system doesn’t budge just because someone is frustrated.

Part of the Soviet legacy is apathy. There is a Russian proverb, “Work is not a wolf, it will not run away into the forest.” Every job here seems so much more labor-intensive than it would be in the States. It tends to lead to a lethargy that is not helpful. In our first year, Al and I struggled with the task of buying train tickets. On one occasion, it took us three full days to get the task accomplished because we couldn’t find the right location, let alone the right person, to buy a large block of tickets. After long waits, we would be told that it wasn’t their job. Whose job it was, they weren’t saying.

Thinking about it today, I realized there are different kinds of patience and there is a difference between this fatalistic patience (it won’t do any good anyway), and Christian patience, that patience which is a virtue. In the face of obstacles, human and bureaucratic, our colleagues do not give up. They are solution-oriented. With gentleness and humility, they find the steps that they can take, and they pray about the roadblocks. Prayer is a powerful tool, and so is meekness. It’s amazing what a difference kind words and patient smiles make for tired and overworked people. Maybe they can’t solve your problem, but they might just tell you who can.

Our partners are patient in other ways too. When they ask us for assistance for particular projects, we can’t make promises. We usually remind them that Presbyterians make decisions slowly, adding that we’ll try. They have found strength in Presbyterian ways. Presbyterians don’t make empty promises. They are slow to commit, but once they do, they follow through. Our partners know that the relationship is most important: constancy, a willingness to listen, to remember, and to try, a willingness to walk beside them. No single gift or contribution will solve their problems, but it might allow them to take a step forward. May we take those steps together.

I had another meeting this afternoon. It was rush hour and there was a probka. I was 45 minutes late for my appointment. It happens. It’s Russia.

May the Lord grant each of us the patience we need for the tasks before us.

Peace and blessings,

Ellen & Al

The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 94