Living In The Gap

There is a gap between is and should. I have also noticed a space between what I have and what I want. Come to think of it, there is a canyon between what I know and what I would like to know. Worse yet is the dis­tance between my poten­tial and my accom­plish­ments. The empty room between the door of oppor­tu­nity and my courage is some­times the size of a foot­ball sta­dium. I am eas­ily lost in the doubt­ing empti­ness between.
If you think the gap between China and Cal­i­for­nia is big (and for­tu­nately cov­ered by the Pacific Ocean), you should see the gap between my ideal moral self and the one that gets suited up to go to work each day. Even more, have noticed the space between time and eter­nity? Now that one is really awe­some!
I have noticed other gaps too. How about the one between world peace and all of the lev­els of vio­lence — from words to wars! Check on your check­ing account — ever notice the dis­tance between mate­r­ial desires ful­filled and spir­i­tual long­ings? What about the travel you dreamed of as a teen and have still left on the list as you head well past midlife? Here is a long road: Where you are and where you thought you would be in life.
There is an art to liv­ing in the gaps. In fact, I have become quite at home between the hori­zons of wishes and actu­al­i­ties. Most of life is a sym­bolic jour­ney between Egypt­ian slav­ery and the Promised Land…with lots of emo­tional desert in between. It pays to pay atten­tion to your long­ings. Arrival may not always be as won­der­ful as the jour­ney. It often lacks the intrigu­ing ten­sions of the unknown. Learn to enjoy where you are.
Right now I am some­where in the mid­dle of life, but a lit­tle closer to the end than the begin­ning — maybe a lot closer. The echoes of my yearn­ings can still be heard in the dis­tant past. So can yours. God put eyes only on one side of our head. Look­ing for­ward is some­how supe­rior. Lit­tle is ever gained from regret or second-guessing one­self.
The planet upon which we ride is in a gap between the Sun and infi­nite space. The dis­tance between this galaxy and the next makes an inter­est­ing night sky, but we can­not cross that divide. All those empty places surely have a pur­pose. For now we are in between, with a lit­tle faith to secure us. All in all, that is enough.