Middle

What does it feel like to be a person that the world has forgotten?

It feels like a child standing in a great crowd, unsure of whom to trust, or where to go. Surrounded by thousands but yet all alone.

It feels like a hiker half-way up the mountain side. Staring up in defeat at the hill yet to climb. But looking behind realizing he’s gone too far to give up.

It feels like a mother in the middle of the night, rocking her baby, desperate for sleep, but still protecting the sleep of others.

There is a profound loneliness in the middle.

At the start of a battle people come to help, anxious to see you through the fight. At the end, people will cheer you on, realizing you are close to victory. It’s the middle that is the problem. The middle is the hard slog through the muck. It’s not exciting or interesting. No one else can do this part for you. Step by step you plod through the middle, while the world goes on with their business.

The middle is lonely.

Psalm 25: 16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.