“Mind the Gap. It’s the Difference between life as you mean
it and life as it is.”
~ Sheba Heart, character in Notes on a Scandal (film)
Fall is one of those special times of year when you are not
exactly sure what the weather will be – it could be hot or cold. The leaves
could be green and pretty one day, then brown and orange (or even off the
branch completely) the next. The
reason people get caught so off guard is because it literally happens when we
are not paying attention. Sure, we notice the slight nip in the air, or the
days are just a little shorter, but sometimes it’s not until we are drinking
apple cider or hot cocoa to keep warm that things have changed so much.
In our everyday dealings, we often miss paying attention to
these elements. We miss the signs
that someone likes us until it is a full-blown love interest or the interest
has waned. We miss that opportunity that we are perfect for, so busy trying to
just make ends meet. We miss the growth of our children, the stubble growing on
our chins and reading a chapter here and there until one day the children are
somehow our height, the 5 o’clock shadow is now a baby beard, and we are
suffering from literary dehydration.
It is a small space it seems, but that one step can make all the
difference.
In all of the Holy books, we find stories of how a chance
meeting changes the direction of one’s desires and motivations. Before that brief rendezvous, that
moment of recognition, they are perfectly content with life as they knew it. Someone is knocked off a donkey on a
familiar road; someone met the love of their life and it jump starts a
different movement, someone has an encounter with the Creator and can never
walk the same again. These moments are in the gaps, when they are not paying
attention, thinking it was still an ordinary summer, when in fact, fall was
actually on the way.
There are no insignificant moments in life – there are some
that have more priority than others and some that make more of an impact, but
all play apart in constructing our days and ultimately our lives. The hints are
to be embraced, not ignored, for they reveal the truth. Ultimately, it is our choice to
acknowledge the importance, the preciousness, of the very seconds that shape
our days.
Consider, this week, acknowledging those hints that show
change is in the air. Greater is coming.
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