Wednesday Word: Living in the Pause

Do you have the courage to be in the pause between what is “no longer” and what is “not yet?” -- Octavia Raheem

Octavia Raheem is an author and yoga instructor, and I ran across this quote of hers on a friend's Facebook page. I don't know anything about her other than what you can learn from using google, but I found this quote to be thought provoking.

It goes without saying that COVID has messed up and played havoc with our lives in a way that most of us have never experienced. Like a lot of people, I spent most of March – June of last year trying to navigate COVID-time. My sense of time was reduced to yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Planning moved to coping, and staying in contact with friends and acquaintances took on a new sense of importance.

Thinking back to the beginning of the pandemic, there were those who, for whatever reason, believed it would be a quick inconvenience lasting no more than three or four weeks. There were others who thought it had the capacity to last up to nine months. A few were thinking a year. Nobody I know was thinking it would carry on for 19 months and counting. But here we are.

I think earlier in the pandemic we were all hoping that somehow, some way, things would return to “normal.” We've been at this long enough now to understand that that is probably unlikely. While there may be some things that return to normal, there are just as many, or more, that won't. If we honestly evaluate where we are, I would say that we are most definitely in that pause that Ms. Raheem mentions.

We are in the pause between what is no longer and what is not yet. This can be a difficult place to be, primarily because we are mourning the passing of what was. How we used to conduct our lives has been changed or ended altogether. How we worship and do ministry has been changed or ended. For some of us, what is “no longer” may leave us feeling devastated and empty.

We are in the pause between what is no longer and what is not yet. This is both a challenging and exciting time as we look for new and creative ways to do things. How we might conduct our lives can be infused with a new sense of purpose. How we worship and do ministry has seen any number possible alternatives. The ministry of the “not yet” is still taking shape. How we do ministry – how we Welcome and Serve – in the future has yet to be defined.

As we live into the pause between the “no longer” and the “not yet,” this is a good time to use our imaginations about how we can make the “not yet” come to life.

Blessings,

Todd+