Father Abraham
A story I've long connected with from the Jewish tradition is the story of Abraham, and the faith of Abraham. The father of the faith; the father of Faith, even. When he was still fairly young, and settled, with a life ahead of him if he chose it, God suddenly appeared before him and said, "Go! Leave this land, leave everything behind; go to a place with people you don't know, traditions you've never seen, languages you've never heard, food you've never tasted. Go there and stay there, and this will be your land, and I will make something of you with it. You will be massively blessed." And then Abraham believed - he got a new name for his trouble (an h was added in), and then he went. He went, and he wandered. He wandered. He wandered. God said "settle HERE" (not in the land that was green and ripe for pasture). God said "Wait on me" and he waited until he was past the age of childbirth, and still he wandered. I can't help but think of all the times Abraham must have asked himself, "Isn't this just the limit? How can I possibly do any more than this? When will God give me a reprieve?" though in fact he was prosperous, well-respected, and had many flocks of sheep. But he was still waiting for God to follow through on his promise all that time; to give him offspring, to make the land his own. There are too many days in which I feel like I am following too closely in the footsteps of my forefather. I fear that even it will not be credited to me in the end. How I long for justice. Or to be settled in, if not body, then settledness in my heart.