The In-Between
Faith Perspectives – January 24, 2018

By Rev Beverly Kahle
St. Paul U.C.C. Nashville

We once again find ourselves in the time of in-between.
We were in Advent, then Christmas, which led to between Christmas and Epiphany, now we are between Epiphany (the coming of the light of Jesus Christ) and the beginning of Lent.
Then, we will be in between Lent and Easter, and so on.
We spend most of our time “in between.” Some think of this as the “waiting time.” Others look at it as, “okay, I don’t have a major holiday or obligation so I can do what I want” time.
I would have us look at the time “in between” as time to get ready and prepare. Think about it.
I have a niece who is getting married this spring, almost a year after they were engaged. So this entire year has been the “in between” – in between the time they declared they were going to be married and the actual day they are married. During this “in between” time, they have had to do a whole lot of work to get ready. People are going to come to the wedding and they are going to marvel at how wonderful everything is, but that’s only going to happen because of how my niece and her husband-to-be spent the time in between.
I believe as Christians that we need to spend more time thinking and using our “in-between’ time because it’s our in “between time’” usage that is going to find us ready or not for what God wants to do next in our lives.
After all, one of Jesus’ big teachings is for us to be ready and not waste our ‘in between” time.
While it is tempting to live our Christian lives coasting from one major event to the next – Christmas, Palm Sunday, Easter, Pentecost – if we do, we risk not being truly ready for what God has in store for us and we miss a lot of God’s blessings.
In other words, we get caught unprepared for the main event. Or using another analogy – it’s how a basketball team spends it time in between games to get ready for that game that heavily determines how well they do in the game.
So, in our “in between” times (like now), let us take time to get ourselves ready.
This means spending this “in between” time doing things like reading the Bible, going to Bible studies, praying, spending time with other Christians, making plans, serving others, and being an active part of a faith community.
By doing the work of the ‘in between time,” may we truly be ready to receive the blessings when God shows up in our lives with the main event.
May you have a happy and fruitful “in between.”