Suzy and the kids had to drive for over three hours to visit me when I was on sabbatical. She told me that there were times when she and Kelley, or she and Caroline would crank up the radio to an oldies station and sing along while they traveled to visit me. This was an in between time for my family and me. They were in between DC and Cumberland, Md. We were all in between our past life and an uncertain future. The kids were in between adolescence and adulthood. One described it as a time where we were on a trapeze having let go of one bar and hoping there would be another bar that would swing out and we could grab ahold.
In those times of being in between it helps to sing. For Suzy and the kids it helped to get caught up in “oldies” and bring back memories of more certain times before they faced uncertainty square in the face again. But I also refer to another type of singing in those in between times. Singing in the more broader context means recognizing where we are and celebrating our extraordinary aliveness. Songs reflect our emotions — joy and sadness, in love and heartbroken, celebration and mourning, courage and weakness, etc. Each of these songs of life mean we are alive in the present — “in between” our past and our future.
As you meditate this weekend consider whether you are “in between.” Consider what song reflects your status, and ask yourself if it wouldn’t help to have someone sing along with you. If there is no one handy, God has one hell of a voice. Just consider the songs of nature.
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