It’s a hard time for all of us. Life as we lived it doesn’t work. But we haven’t figured out the new life that we were meant to live.
What do we do in the meantime?
I was never very good at waiting. I was born in an impatient nation going through a season of impotence and waiting. A season that has us all not just tapping our toes, but taking out our frustration at people we don’t know on social media.
But as I’ve grown older, I’ve learned the importance of waiting. And of not trying to control the things that I can’t control.
I’ve learned the importance of blessing the space that I’m in, as uncomfortable as it may be. One of my favorite poets is John O’Donohue. He wrote a blessing that is especially apropos for this time we find ourselves in.
I encourage you to do something that may not come naturally to you. Take the time to slow down to read and receive this blessing. I promise you, you will be blessed.
For the Interim Time
When near the end of day, life has drained
Out of light, and it is too soon
For the mind of night to have darkened things,
No place looks like itself, loss of outline
Makes everything look strangely in-between,
Unsure of what has been, or what might come.
In this wan light, even trees seem groundless.
In a while it will be night, but nothing
Here seems to believe the relief of darkness.
You are in this time of the interim
Where everything seems withheld.
The path you took to get here has washed out;
The way forward is still concealed from you.
“The old is not old enough to have died away;
The new is still too young to be born.”
You cannot lay claim to anything;
In this place of dusk,
Your eyes are blurred;
And there is no mirror.
Everyone else has lost sight of your heart
And you can see nowhere to put your trust;
You know you have to make your own way through.
As far as you can, hold your confidence.
Do not allow confusion to squander
This call which is loosening
Your roots in false ground,
That you might come free
From all you have outgrown.
What is being transfigured here in your mind,
And it is difficult and slow to become new.
The more faithfully you can endure here,
The more refined your heart will become
For your arrival in the new dawn.
Thank you, Seth. Read Hebrews 11:13. Love you.
thank you Seth! What a poem! Nothing is wasted in Gods economy, especially when his sons and daughters are about their fathers business, not worrying about tomorrow, but living fully present in the moment putting his kingdom interests first and
“… Proving what is the good, perfect, and acceptable will of the Lord“ In their lives!
Amen, Matt. I think that describes you!
Whose cutting onions? This beautiful and no need for tears. Yet, here they appear…
Tanisha
I know, so good! If you want to listen to a podcast of his that is inspiring, listen to Onbeing where he speaks on the subject of “beauty.“