God Thinking XLVII - The In-between Times 2

"But the endings and the in-betweens......

I’m not going to talk about the endings much, because, I believe that a thorough examination of the in-betweens will give answer to the endings, but even if not, let’s leave the endings for the ending.

 Most of us have come to know the in-betweens of life as:

• Less than perfect
• Not quite what we thought it would be or not at all what we thought it would be
• Less of what we thought we were going to get and more of what we hadn’t even thought we would get
• We thought it would take less time to get where we are
• and we thought it would take a lot longer to get where we are, depending on how we look at it.
• At one time, we had in mind a stable and somewhat trouble free journey
• We thought that taking a vacation with our family or friends once or twice a year was something that our employer prepared for us and encouraged that we would pursue.
• We thought that war and terrorism and suicide bombers were something that happened elsewhere
• Some of us even talked of moving here or there to escape the violence as if there was such a place.
• Who would have ever thought that we would become dependent on prescription or illegal drugs ?
• Who could have ever convinced you that alcohol would someday rule our life?
• Who would have ever dreamed that priest, in charge of the sacraments of God would ever stoop to such disgusting and low behavior as we have recently heard about?
• Who started a business thinking that in just a few short years, the thing they loved to do would starve them out and cause them to go bankrupt?
• Who goes into a marriage thinking that someday their husband won’t be bringing them flowers anymore or that their wives would rather be with someone else.
• What teen or young person do you know thinks that they might someday have to work at a job they hate, marry somebody they don’t love and end up living in a run down ghetto?
• Who do you know goes into a marriage thinking that some day they might not be able to see their own kids.
• What teenager stays out late thinking that something really bad is going to happen to them?
• Who among us started a family with even the slightest inclination that someday it would be broken into pieces?
• Who starts out a relationship with someone, knowing that someday that person will become their enemy?
• Which one of us had any idea that we would turn back toward the thing that is destroying us?

Can you see what I mean about the in-between times now?

None of us started out thinking that our in-betweens would be so filled with - to be nice, - unpredictables and less than desirables.

Excerpt from God Thinking XLVII The In-between Times by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2014