In Limbo Between Destinations
Jack Steel
February 25, 2023
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In Limbo Between Destinations
by Jack Steel
Over 12,000 meters high up in the air, hours between one destination and the next, inextricably caught between two places without being able to influence the direction or time of arrival. In some ways long distance travel can be highly unpleasant, cramped space, delays, overcrowding and the unavoidable feeling of being completely powerless to alter our current state of affairs. We are in other words, completely beholden to the power of outside forces as to where, if, and when we arrive at our destinations. The big decisions are completely out of our hands.
It is at this point, high in the air, caught in turbulence somewhere over Honduras, trying to squeeze any additional leg room from a cramped seat, that it dawns on me, other than the physical discomfort of the moment, there was something quite freeing about letting go of control of my current situation, right down to the smallest detail. As I hurtle through the air up above the clouds, forced to hand it all over to the pilot at the wheel, to the air stewards and to God. Of the multitude of things requiring my attention, none of which could be attended to in this moment, even with the many hours of time at my disposal (the lack of which often being the thing most responsible for tasks becoming overwhelming). In this instant I had a plentiful supply, yet all tasks and worries, work, insurance, tax, invoices, missed deadlines, personal commitments, and many more all had to simply wait – wait, much like me until I reached my destination. Here I was, between space, in limbo, handing over control of every little moment and just being present. Yet I begin to wonder, once I reach my destination, will I maintain this freeing state of having relinquished control? Will I continue to hand the worries and problems of life over to God? Or will I set about fixing, organising and taking back control as soon as I’m within shot of a decent WiFi connection?
How many times in our lives when we are overwhelmed by decisions, by day-to-day tasks and by calendared events, do we forget to hand it all over and to let God take the wheel? Not as often as we should I’d wager. We go through life much as I do now, in between destinations, placing ourselves in a state of limbo yet trying to control every detail.
This state of limbo was experienced acutely by many of us during the COVID 19 lockdowns, all of us trapped between moments, simply waiting for the lockdown to end and forced to simply get on with life and make the most of the present moment as best we could. Much like travelling by plane over long distances, this wasn’t exactly the most comfortable or pleasant way to spend our time, but despite this, there was something freeing about letting go of that little bit of momentary control (albeit unwillingly). But when freedom was granted, many of us when right back to trying to control the day-to-day moments just as we had before, having seemingly learned nothing from the experience.
When everything in our lives is placed on hold, when all the things in life that keep our minds and hearts occupied in every moment are paused, placed temporarily out of our reach of being able to change and fret over, what do we have left? Are we happy with our current state of affairs? It is in these quiet moments between life’s destinations, the moments we tend to ignore, the moments we take for granted or see as an inconvenience in our haste to reach the desired destination, that I think God and the Spirit are closer than ever - If only we could find time to stop and be present to notice.
We are often caught in this strange place of limbo between life’s destinations without realising it. Without literally being stuck on a plane, we often trap ourselves in a self-imposed place of purgatory between bookmarked moments in which ‘life’ takes place. The gap between holidays, the time between our next pay-checks, waiting from one weekend to the next, for work to be over, waiting for tomorrow, waiting for the march of time that is out-with our control to bring us to the next destination. We wish away these moments to simply pass and be done with them, devaluing the time spent in this place between, as second rate, an inconvenience that we would rather be rid of so we can live the ‘real’ moments.
Life is more than just the destinations, the time between the places we go and the things we do. The ignored time is as much time of value and importance in our lives, after all we often forget that during our entire life spans themselves, we are only really spending time between destinations. We tend to pick and choose which of the moments between, that we allow importance and which to add value. God is with us as much in the moments whether we feel it or not, whether we are present or absent. Allow yourself, next time you find yourself in a self-imposed or literal state of limbo, to stop and be present and to consciously hand it over to God. Maybe that tiresome commute, or waiting in line at the post office, maybe when there are far too many things needing your undivided attention, let it go.
Stop and imagine how we might experience life, if we were to view these between moments in limbo with as much reverence as the big destinations. Imagine how thrilling and exciting the mundane moments could be, if we saw them through different eyes - eyes unburdened by to do lists and time. Look around and hand over control willingly, and when a state of powerlessness is imposed…fret not, God’s got the wheel.
Four more hours to go, and currently the only decision I can influence and fret over, is whether I have the chicken or the fish, and that’s more than fine by me.
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