Filled with many “I don’t knows”, there is a common experience within our shared humanity that I am calling “The Day Between”. It is that space of life we all have at times where a difficult life experience has occurred and its outcome has yet to unfold. Maybe it’s fresh and we are reeling from the deep shock, pain or troubling that the experience has left in our hearts. Maybe these same “heart-states” have been present for a while as a burning ember deep in our souls. Regardless, this space of life exists between the even day itself and the future day of its resolving. How do we live in the “between”? Allow me to offer some encouragement.

I imagine this same human experience with those who cared for Jesus on the day following his death. Waking up to again re-live the horror and violence of His death, I am certain their hearts were broken beyond measure. Even the dawn of a new day failed to fill the empty and shattered space they were experiencing. Questions filled the void in their pained hearts — “What now?”, “How do I go on?”, and “Where are the answers?” Aloneness, like a consuming darkness, was gaining a voice all around them. The pain of loss, mixed with other real emotions like anger, confusion and despair, crowded out peace and likely any sense of sacredness of their own lives.

In that scene, as seemingly hopeless as it was, I also see this. They gathered together and cared for each other. Not formally, but naturally. It was a response, maybe even automatic, that they had done faithfully with each other as part of their “normal” life. I can imagine scenes of early morning chores, the baking of bread and food, and the strong embraces with each other as they met, even with all the blank stares and wordless silence. They came together and lived in the way they could, even if for just that moment. They were all in that space and experiencing the wrestling of their hearts. But being together was important. As the day wore on, I further imagine the sharing began to increase, slowly at first, but with a rising urgency of mixed feelings and questions. But, they were sharing — they were experiencing, each in their own way, “The Day Between” — just doing it together.

As I sit in that image of gathering together to share this in-between space, I begin to sense and feel the joy and pleasure of the Father, Jesus and Spirit (or the Eternal’s as I call them) for them. It is then my own heart begins to slowly understand. That seemingly insignificant, even routine practice, of gathering together and simply caring for each other is a key answer for each of our own in-between seasons. The Eternals exist fully and because of their love relationship with each other. So much so that from our vantage point, we see them as “One”. Of even more shocking brilliance is their desire for each of us to experience the same not just with them, but with each other. As their image bearers, we have the same capacity for this kind of relational connection, not just in some distant future, but now. The Day Between space is key to helping us grow in this experience.

Today, the “Day Between” Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, may these thoughts bring life to your heart as you face your own in-between spaces of life’s journey now and in the future. Like you, my own experiences of this space have in the past been filled with a focus on trying to make sense of everything and getting answers that I want. Both, while reasonable, are not always the outcome. Much of the time this left me deeply frustrated and not at peace. But ever so slowly, I’m experiencing life differently, especially these Days Between. To be clear, the hard experiences still are that — HARD. And whatever you feel in those moments are both real and impactful. I would offer, though, that in those seasons, relational connection and mutual care can become a life-giving way to move through it towards whatever outcome that unfolds. The Eternals are just that for you and the rest of us — they are present within us since our beginning, and continue to be, without end.

One final thought. What I’m calling “The Day Between” season is marked greatly by “unknown”. The answer to that which is unknown is not hidden knowledge or seeking more. Rather, it is Presence — walking the unknown path with a “known” presence of someone who loves and cares for you, enduring and being touched in the same way that which you experience. As the Eternals are that for each of us personally, we can be that for one another. As we do, whatever outcome we do encounter, we can embrace it together and not alone. That’s the very essence of Resurrection — we are never alone.

And that my fellow sojourner, forms the core of all hope – living life together.