The In-Between Seasons

The days are getting longer - yet now there is snow on the ground. Yesterday evening at 5 p.m. it was still dusk, and at 5:15 p.m. I could still see light in the western sky! The shortest days of the year were hard on me this year, so the return of some evening sunshine has been a blessing. But, having it coupled with these below freezing temperatures and crusty snow on the ground reminds me that while we are moving toward spring, we really are in an in-between season. We have the cold of winter but the light is increasing toward spring.

I don’t particularly like in-between seasons. I like things that are clear cut. I want to know what to expect to happen at all times.

If only life did what I wanted it to! Unfortunately, like many of you, I often find myself in in-between seasons. This winter, as I've been sick, is one of those seasons. I’m ready for spring in more ways than one. I’m still having to learn to sit and be with this body God has given. To sit and wait for the Spirit to move.

Perhaps you too struggle with the in-between parts of life. If so, let me leave you with a prayer.

A Prayer “For Those Who are Looking for a Sign”

God who shows,

I need a sign. However sincere my discernment, it seems like clarity continues to evade me. God, how will I know? In the absence of firm assurance, this lack of confidence pulls me here and there like a leash. Remind me that many things can be good at once, but if there is an answer that is most right for me in this season, reveal it to me. Help me to have compassion for myself as I name my uncertainty. Show me what it means to be a person of both conviction and openness, that I might gain the courage to act and decide even when it feels like  a risk. May I find divine affirmation on the path to self-trust. Amen

?     From Cole Arthur Riley’s Black Liturgies: Prayes, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human. New York: Convergent, 2024, p. 54.

 Blessings,

 Pastor Amy