Life in the Middle

It has been said that there is a time for everything.  There is a time to be born and a time to die.  Check.  There is a time for war and a time for peace.  Check.  I would much rather have peace, though.  There is a time to cry and laugh and dance and hug and embrace and love and even hate.  We live in such a way that we experience a variety of "seasons" to life. 

What I'm finding in my life is that the seasons of life are not separate from other times.  Often these moments or seasons pile in one on top of the other and it is then that I am left to discern which pieces of the puzzle to pick up.  Where do I start? 

 

What is the first piece that is always crucial in assembling a puzzle?  Some might say it's the corner piece.  Perhaps.  It could be, though, that starting in the middle might not be such a bad idea, especially where our lives exist.  Starting in the middle means that I do not retreat to the edges (corners) and isolate or disconnect. 

 

The middle of life is life worth living.  Granted, it is often more challenging living in the middle.  It is easier to disengage and move to the periphery of life. 

Sometimes the thought is that when we get "our ducks in a row" then we can make better sense of what it means to live.  In reality life is more about "chasing the ducks" and finding meaning along the way.  That is why it is important (at least I think so) to find the times of my life in the middle of my life.  How ironic it is for me to be speaking about the middle of life since I recently turned 50 years of age.  Yes, I know.  It is the middle of a century.  My children were quick to remind me of this.  And yet I can't help but feel that in many ways the best is still to come regardless of past mistakes, struggles, or decisions. 

Recently I was reminded that to find hope in the midst of pain is a gift.  At least pain tells me I'm alive.  Should not living be a gift?  The challenge is to let go of the past while embracing the present but notice that letting go means clinging to something.  We let go of the past and its hurts and griefs while at the same time holding on to the present.  There must be something to hold in order to let something go.  This, in essence, is life in the middle. 

Yes, there is a time for everything and there is timing to everything.  Sometimes timing is not what we think it should be but hopefully in that moment we discover the time to embrace what is before us.  There is a time to laugh.  There is a time to dance (I can't dance very well, by the way).  Maybe it is time to cry.  Through it all it is time to live.  It is time to breathe.  What time is it in your life?

Life Gets in the Way of Life Sometimes

You know sometimes life just gets in the way of well, life.  You live each day doing the things you think you should do and before you know it the things you want to do are pushed to the edge.  Yes, sometimes life gets in the way.  Should this stop us, however?  Should we just throw our hands up and say it's of no use; of course not.  We take each day as it comes.  We let each person that we meet become small reminders that we are not alone; that others are experiencing the busyness of life, too.  We seek to find our purpose in the midst of living.

Finding our purpose can be challenging, though.  Henri Nouwen has written that we live like overstuffed suitcases "bursting at the seams".  Perhaps life getting in the way is exactly what we need.  We only have this one life in which to raise our children, attend to our jobs, go to school, attend worship.  Life is going to be what we make of it.  Sometimes we need to step back and take a "life inventory" to examine whether we are making a life or life is making us.

In the days following Easter I am reminded that life changed for the followers of Jesus Christ.  And here's the thing:  life didn't necessarily change for the better.  Granted, their conviction of who Jesus was (and is) changed exponentially and their commitment to spreading the gospel was unflappable.  However, their lives often met with derision and ridicule from others who were opposed to their message.  Most of the followers of Jesus in the early days of Christianity died as martyrs for the faith.  Yet, they could choose no other life because they lived and breathed the message of salvation that they had experienced first-hand through Christ.

I guess you could say that life got in the way but what a life. 

How's your life going?

It's About Time

As a child I begged (literally begged) my parents to buy me a Mickey Mouse watch. Apparently, I was persuasive because they relented and on my 7th birthday, I received the watch. I believe one of the reasons that my parents had been resistant to the idea of my having a Mickey Mouse watch (the watches were also rather expensive) was out of concern that I was tooyoung and would lose it.

One day, as fate (I don’t believe in fate but this was uncanny) would have it, I was outside with my friends and we all dared one another to jump off the neighbor’s garage roof. Of course, I accepted the dare and before jumping off the roof, I took off my watch and placed it carefully on the ground where I would pick it up after completing my daring feat. I climbed on the roof and jumped landing awkwardly contorted but unhurt. I was proud of myself. Since it was late, I went home. I later realized I had not picked up my Mickey Mouse watch. I went back to the spot where I placed it and it was nowhere to be found. I never found the watch.

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son...” (Galatians 4.4). As a person of faith and belief in Jesus Christ I realize that I may not understand all that life is about but I do affirm in my life that God’s Son has entered into the world, broken through our time to usher in the advent of God’s timing, God’s incarnate presence among us.

The days leading up to Christmas and the days following are an invitation to participate symbolically and spiritually in the timing of God. So, take time. Find time. Spend time. Use time wisely. Invite God to enter into the time of your life. Time can get away from us just like a lost Mickey Mouse watch. Life is all about timing. In Christ, the time is now.