Rev. George A. Burn on a quiet internal revolution

The Times In Between

There are moments in our lives between major changes when we live in an unknown. As if in the lull while flying a kite, and things drift to the ground, our hopes and joys are forgotten. Daily existence lacks vitality and meaning. We sleep walk, go through the motions, and make time pass while trying to figure out what to do next. The arrival of new energy and a sense of purpose can take weeks if not months.

The Bible contains several "in between" stories. The people of Israel, although liberated from the land of Egypt where they had yearned for freedom and then celebrated as the Egyptian army was crushed in the Red Sea, soon realized a longing for the security of imprisonment rather than the responsibility which accompanied their new found freedom. The "Promised Land" was nowhere in sight. We are told that God provided only enough food for each day.

Jesus' disciples in the period between his resurrection and the time of Pentecost, while grieving, spent countless hours together while deciding whether or not to return to their prior occupations of fishing and tax collecting. Jesus convinced them (only after several sightings) that the message they had received was real. They lived many days with the question, "What will we do now?" Only at Pentecost (when they were alone together and filled with the Holy Spirit) was it possible for them to work with conviction. Henri Nouwen, the Dutch Theologian suggests that there is a "Ministry of Absence." The disciples came into their own only after Jesus left. Jesus withdrawal enabled the disciples to become empowered.

Following times of change, when the dust is still settling, and the stirring of our souls keeps questions rather than answers foremost in our minds, when even God seems far away, I believe there is within us a quiet revolution stirring which one day causes us to awaken from our slumber, become aware of new hope, and notice within ourselves a newly discovered sense of purpose.

Living through such emotional valleys and not avoiding them, strengthens our self-understanding. We prove our ability to survive while hoping for another encounter with a mountaintop. The "in between" times of an emotional desert or following a disastrous loss, means "Waiting upon the Lord," and giving ourselves permission to step back from life while reorganizing our priorities. During these extremely important and I think, sacred moments, the lull in the winds of change sometimes affords an opportunity to adjust our emotional kites so that when the next unexpected gust comes along, we are able to soar again.

Rev. George A. Burn has been the Director of Pastoral Care at Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College, PA since 1990. He is a Board Certified Chaplain with APC.

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