The Interim Time

I was realizing this morning that it feels to me as though nothing is as it was in the world, yet what is to come is not yet known. The term for this is ‘the interim time.’

John O’Donohue wrote a beautiful book of Blessings called To Bless the Space Between Us. In that book there is a blessing in the shape of a poem called For the Interim Time. Of the interim time he says:

“No place looks like itself, loss of outline,

Makes everything look strangely in-between,

Unsure of what has been, or what might come.”

Boy, for me, that describes our situation in history right now very accurately.

So how do we handle the interim time? For me, I am realizing that honouring the rhythms of life which remain really helps. For instance, it is time to take the annuals out of the garden and plant bulbs which we know will bloom next spring, no matter what happens in our world. It’s time to put away our spring/summer wardrobes and pull out our warm woolies to wear, and we do this every year, no matter what is happening around us.

I am finding the rhythms of each day are so precious right now too. Thinking about what to make for supper, and then looking forward to the evening meal has become much more meaningful. Right now I have chili in the slow cooker and already the house is beginning to be filled with that comforting and grounding fragrance.

The weekly rhythm of church (by Zoom!) on Sunday, the weekly phone calls with my children and visit with my mom are touchstones of my week. I enjoy, look forward to, and savour these events much more and I am grateful for the anchor they provide for me life right now.

Some things don’t change! The daily, weekly and seasonal rhythms continue! What a relief to realize that.

John O’Donohue finishes his poem blessing with these words:

“What is being transfigured here is your mind,

And it is difficult and slow to become new.

The more faithfully you can endure here,

The more refined your heart will become

For your arrival in the new dawn.”

I do have that feeling that my mind is being transfigured by this COVID experience. The rhythms of my life are anchoring me while the work of transfiguration is being done. I find myself able to rest in that thought for now. Hallelujah!