Abstract

The essence of this work is an explication of how the formative experience of waiting can move people from living in illusion to living with reality. Experience discloses how frustrating waiting can be. Times of waiting disrupt the course of daily life and remind people that they are not in ultimate control of their daily life formation process. ;The research methodology employed in this work is that developed by The Institute of Formative Spirituality through the Science of Foundational Formation. The experience of waiting is researched in a five-step component structure through the following horizons: Universal Human; Oriental Formation Tradition of Zen Buddhism; and Christian Formation Tradition. The research findings are then applied to the life of Christian foreign missioners. The final methodological procedure is to offer a practical application of the research. The application offered herein addresses the population of Christian foreign missioners who have returned from overseas service for a period of renewal, be it of a personal or a spiritual nature. ;The results of the research undertaken in this work disclose that the experience of waiting is formative when it evokes a harmonization between the finite and the infinite dimensions of human existence. While people wait, these two dimensions, characteristic of all humans, are brought into awareness. When the experience of waiting is formative, people are trapped in neither the finite nor the infinite dimension, but, rather, accept the opportunity to harmonize these two dimensions and transcend the illusion to live with the reality that life is ambiguous and open ended