"INSTANT GRATIFICATION FEELS GOOD—WAITING HURTS!"
I couldn't ignore this advertising slogan blaring from my car radio. True—quick access to products, services, or people often make a day go more smoothly. But the expectation of instant gratification can also have negative side effects—rude driving behavior, pushy customers, shallow relationships, frayed tempers, and a general feeling of stress at the end of the day from trying to make it all happen now. As communication, food, information, entertainment—even healthcare—become increasingly instant, it's easy for us to fall into the habit of feeling at least a little angry when we don't get what we want when we want it.
That day as I continued my drive, I found myself comparing the advertising slogan for instant gratification (for a product I no longer recall!) with this statement in Science and Health, "What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds" (p. 4).
