Somewhere in the Middle
Here we are, once again,
somewhere in the middle:
between the already and the not yet,
between what is and what’s to come.

Emmanuel,
God With Us,
be with us now -
in the waiting and the longing,
the hoping and the praying,
the singing and the silence.

All our little wants loom large as we wait.
The pleasures of “more”
tickle our taste buds
and candy our conscience.

We say you alone are enough,
but how quickly
we are bent right back
toward ourselves -
looking downward,
limping and listing
toward the next best thing.

In this temporary and necessary now,
deliver us from the tyranny of our fancy Pharaohs,
and the bondage of our shiny shackles.