The In between Time

The period between Ascension and Pentecost is an interesting one. It has been called the "already but not yet period". I sometimes think that for most of us this "already but not yet" time lasts all of our lives.

We are always looking back to the time and life of Jesus on the one hand, and looking forward to the coming of the Pentecost experience in our own lives on the other. And it's always in the future, this Pentecost experience.

The present, where we live, is that strange time between the two in which the two are always present, but where we have difficulty in merging them in a way that is meaningful and helpful. The real tragedy for so many of us is that we never get to have the Pentecost experience.

And how do we experience Pentecost? I think it has something to do with our approach to life in general; our ability to take the rough with the smooth; a belief that we are not on our own; that what Jesus said is still true for us; that He once prayed for each of us and is with us until the end of time. I find that particularly reassuring.

"I pray for them: I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you"( John 17:9).

In this "in between time" there is surely enough to be getting on with.