I can't believe it has been so long since I was last in this space...life is just passing by and I don't know where is going. So much has happened since January...it just seems impossible that we are in the last days of the last "J" month...it is scary how fast time slips away...like water through my arthritic fingers. It just keeps moving on, and we have no say in it, no control, no way to slow it down, let alone, stop it. I want to hang on to it, but I can't. It is not mine to bottle up or store for later. Time is the now, and the now doesn't wait. We have to move on with it whether we like it or not...whether we want it or not.
"Moving on..."
What does that even mean? These are the types of expressions from the English language that puzzle me to no end. It is a combination of words that makes no sense to me. In my early years learning this exceedingly frustrating form of communication, I was taught that "to move" was a verb that meant to change positions, as in one's body or even to change your body to another place. But, what about that little word "on"? What is "on" doing there? I was taught that "on" was a preposition that indicates a resting position upon a surface, as in the plate is on the table, which to me it gives the impression of being static. So, in my English as a second language brain, putting these 2 words together is kind of contradictory: make your body change positions or place while staying put/static upon a surface...all I can picture in my mind is to dance in place or to run inside the surface of one tile...I even picture one of those inflatable dancers we see at car dealerships. I guess it is possible. But what's the point?
Exposure to cultures and languages has taught me that it is not about the literal translation of words. Meaning goes beyond what a single word "means."
When someone directs, suggests, commands, invites, encourages someone else to "move on" it does not mean that you should shake your body within the confines of a 12" x 12" tile pretending to be one of those inflatable dancers. What "they" mean is, get going, transition to a different location, the place where you were is no more, change.
A bit harsh, is it not?
As well intended as it might be (and usually is), the thing is that the idea of "moving on" as the phrase is intended to be, is not just emotionally weighty, but often it feels just simply impossible to do.
And you know what else I have discovered? It. Is. OK.
There is no time limit as to how long we are supposed to stay on our 12"x12" tile, running, dancing, waiving our arms up in the air, fainting, kneeling, curling up in a ball, numb, deflated, crying, laughing, reminiscing, regretting, hopping, praying, cursing, shaking our fist, wondering, confused, in awe, in reverence, in love, in loneliness, in anger, in shock, in dismay, or just staying put until we are ready to venture one foot out.
It does not matter if time and life seem to be passing us by. Sometimes we need to stay a little bit longer before we can "move on." That's what God's grace is all about. Grace finds us wherever we are, and that is all we need, for His grace is sufficient...and Christ is enough. His timing is perfect. His ways are not our own. But we trust Him and we surrender to His plan for our lives. Time is the now, and the now does not wait...but it doesn't matter, because our time is in His Hands, and He will not leave us behind. Even if we are just like an unplugged inflatable figure, deflated, unable to waive our arms hysterically...we will NOT go unnoticed. He sees us. He picks us up. He carries us and takes us where we need to be. In The Precious Name of Jesus, We Praise! Amen!
