Patience for me is a big thing. Patience with others. Patience

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, speaking with the heart of both mother and servant of the people, once declared: “Patience for me is a big thing. Patience with others. Patience with the way the world is evolving. I have a sense of urgency because I want to help out so much.” These words reveal the sacred tension that all seekers of justice and love must bear: the fire of urgency that longs to heal the world, and the calm of patience that understands true transformation comes slowly. She speaks of balance — to endure without despair, to strive without haste, to act with compassion while waiting upon the pace of life itself.

The first lesson she names is patience with others. Human beings are slow to change, bound often by fear, pride, and the weight of tradition. It is easy to grow frustrated, to demand that others awaken instantly to truth. Yet Sophie teaches that gentleness must accompany urgency, for change forced upon others too quickly often breeds resistance, while patience nurtures growth. To be patient with others is to honor their humanity, to allow them space to stumble, to learn, and to rise in their own time.

She then speaks of patience with the world’s evolution. The river of history flows not as fast as the heart desires. Wars end, but new conflicts arise. Old chains of injustice break, but new ones are forged. The dream of peace and equity seems forever near and forever distant. Yet those who despair of slowness abandon the work; those who embrace patience continue to build, stone by stone, until the foundation is laid. Sophie’s wisdom is to trust in the long unfolding, even when the present seems too heavy with darkness.

But she also confesses the sense of urgency that burns within her. This is no contradiction, but a necessary companion to patience. For patience without urgency becomes passivity, and urgency without patience becomes recklessness. The greatest leaders of history carried both: the fire that pressed them to act, and the calm that guided their actions with wisdom. This union is what Sophie describes — the deep desire to help, tempered by the discipline to move with care.

Consider the story of Martin Luther King Jr. He dreamed of justice and equality, and he spoke with urgency, declaring that freedom could not be delayed forever. Yet at the same time, he practiced patience, organizing slowly, building communities, enduring jail cells and threats without abandoning his cause. His life, like Sophie’s words, shows that to heal the world we must walk with both fire and stillness, passion and restraint, urgency and patience entwined like two hands joined together.

The meaning of Sophie’s quote is clear: the world is vast, wounded, and in need of healing, but no single person can save it overnight. Patience allows us to keep faith through delay, to endure discouragement, and to continue helping even when results are unseen. Yet urgency keeps us from apathy, reminding us that our time is short and our duty is great. To hold both together is to live as a servant of humanity, never giving up, never rushing blindly, but enduring with love.

Therefore, let the listener act: be patient with others, for they too are on a journey. Be patient with the world, for history moves like a slow tide. Yet do not let patience become slumber. Hold within yourself the urgency to help, to serve, to act when you can, even in small ways. Do not despair of what you cannot change at once, but do not ignore what you can change today. For Sophie Grégoire Trudeau has spoken the truth of a wise heart: the union of patience and urgency is the path of all who would heal the world.