I have sometimes joked that I have made it this far in my life without ever being the right age for anything. I went directly from being “too young” to being “too old” without ever hitting the imaginary sweet spot in-between. That makes an interesting story and perhaps will garner a smile or two as a joke, but it isn’t completely true. Each of the calls from congregations to serve came in part because I was at the right age and the right place in my career to be matched with the needs of the congregations I was called to serve. It wouldn’t have worked for me to serve those congregations in any different order. The delightful and productive two-year interim ministry at First Congregational Church in Bellingham that ended almost a year ago was a call that I couldn’t have afforded to accept at any other point in my life. Our call to the two small congregations in North Dakota was a perfect match for the beginning of a pastoral career. We wouldn’t have been able to serve the congregation in Rapid City successfully had we not gained the experience we had in our previous calls and we wouldn’t have been able to stay for 25 years had we not been in the first half of our forties when we accepted that call. So, in a sense, there have been times when I have felt that I was the right age for the events of my life.

There have, however, been times when I was aware that I wasn’t quite the right age for some things. I was only a year younger than most of my peers when I entered college, but I was a lot less prepared for the social side of college life. Although I was worried about the academics, it turned out that I could handle that side of student life well. Being homesick and not knowing how to deal with roommates turned out to be a bigger challenge. Had it not been for the generous welcome and dozens upon dozens of home cooked meals offered by Susan’s family, I think I might not have been as successful in my college years. Although I know how to operate a washing machine and a dryer, how to fold and put away my clothing, I have never been fully responsible for my laundry for any amount of time in my entire life. There has always been someone to help me with that necessary life chore.

Looking back, there have been a lot of “in between” times in my life. I was a college student between the time of moving away from my parents’ home and the time I moved to Chicago for graduate school. Three of those years was time between living in my parents’ home and being married. We lived in Chicago between our college graduation and our first call to full-time ministry. There were eight years between our wedding and the birth of our first child. My mother lived in our home between the time she was no longer able to live independently and the end of her life.

A lot of ministry occurs in “in between” times. I often was invited into family homes between the time they learned of a death of a loved one and the time of the funeral and public expressions of grief. I’ve been with folk between the administration of a test and the knowledge of the results. I have had some deep and very meaningful conversations with people between the time they received a devastating medical diagnosis and the end of their life. I have sat with families in hospital waiting rooms between the time of sending a loved one into surgery and the news of how the procedure went. I have shared the joy of the time between learning of a pregnancy and the birth of a child with a lot of people.

Preachers spend a lot of time exploring the meanings of a short “in between” time in Jesus’ life. It was only a few short years between the start of his public ministry and his crucifixion. We have only a few stories and a few memories of the things he said in that time, yet we have been speaking of that time and its meaning for millennia.

There is nothing particularly unique about being in the time between the end of my active career and the end of my life. Although retirement itself is a privilege known only be a small percentage of the people of the world and it has only been possible for three or four generations of Americans in the entire history of our country. It seems quite possible that the lifestyle I currently am enjoying is the product of being exactly the right age. Many people younger than I are not anticipating having the kind of retirement that was planned from the beginning of our careers. The congregations we served set aside savings for us all the way through our time of service that are now enabling us to life comfortably without the income of a regular job.

There are still plenty of “in between” times in my life, though. We are enjoying being able to spend a lot of time with our grandchildren right now, but before very long they will move on with their lives and will have less time to be with their grandparents. We often provide a short bit of childcare between the events of the very busy lives of their parents. “Can you be at the farm for a few minutes between the time the school bus arrives and the time I get home from an appointment?” Of course we can.

I’ve benefitted greatly from the “in between” lives of others. A very busy doctor squeezed time to have an EKG performed and interpret its results between other patients in a very busy day. I was seen between the delivery of a new baby and the administration of a dermatology examination. It was life-saving. There are many more examples of being served in between other important events.

All of life is the time between birth and death. Sometimes it seems like a long time. Other times it seems all too short. For now it is good to be in between.