"For everything there is a season"…………Ecclesiastes 3

Being one of those people who often talk their way into an understanding of personal awareness, I found myself explaining to a group of dear friends yesterday what was going on in my life. As I talked my way through it I realized that I am in the presence of many transitions. I am surrounded by people and situations that are experiencing in-between times. I was reminded of a conversation I had a couple of years ago with explorer Anne Bancroft who described herself as 'between expeditions'. I wrote about that conversation in this space and the metaphor has stuck with me. Her words rang true to me yesterday as I talked my way into a deep understanding.

Many people I know are in transition. Some are on the verge of retirement while others have just graduated from college and have their whole career ahead of them. Some are unemployed and filled with soul searching that is laced with anxiety and fear.Still others are in the midst of jobs that are taking on new shapes that cause challenges and opportunities. Most institutions, including the church, are also in a time of great transition: not what and who they were, not yet what they will become. Transition is all around.

As I took a morning walk I was also aware of all the transition around me. The evidence of the work in people's gardens and yards was everywhere to be seen.Upturned soil housed newly planted vegetables and flowers. Shovels leaned against the sides of houses. Piles of uprooted plants sat in buckets to be thrown or replanted or given away. All the human hands at work had participated in creating a visual image of transition. None of these garden plots will look the same in August. Some of the plans for how the garden will succeed, no doubt plotted in the dead of winter's cold, will flourish and grow. There will also be surprises, unplanned gifts that the gardener could not have expected. And only part of the success of the garden can be claimed by the ones who did the planting. Forces greater than those with dirty knees and sore muscles are also a part of this great Creation play. Weather, sun, rain, stray animals, insects all contribute to what grows and what doesn't.

And so it is with all transitions. We hold only a piece of the great puzzle that will eventually take us from one place in the journey to the next. But there so many other, unseen, pieces that take our trust, our faith, our sitting still. Trusting that there is much to be learned in the in-between place can make all the difference. The tomato plant in May is only a few green leaves on a stem. Come August the red, ripe juicy fruit will bring delight beyond measure. 

For the in-between times, it is a good image to remember.

Have a blessed weekend……….……