“‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo.
‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.'”
~ JRR Tolkien // The Fellowship of the Ring

This is the Main Event.

One of my favourite music artists says that rather frequently on his Instagram page. He explained it once & after that, it needed no further clarification so now he just slaps it on a photo of something real “mundane” like doing the dishes or taking out the trash or feeding his kids breakfast.

‘Cause see, the Main Event is wherever you currently find yourself in any given moment. It may not be where you wish to be exactly at that given moment, but it’s where you are.

Cue King Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes: whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Not a suggestion or a nice thought; it was & is a command. Whatever. What.ever.

It’s talking about work, industry, not lying idle when there’s things to be done, not shirking work that doesn’t fit your preference if it’s what He’s called you to. But I think it also means bending our minds to the Thing at hand, even if it’s a ~roadbump~ on the Autobahn of our lives.

& perhaps it applies to
uncomfortable emotions,
hard situations,
walking through Grief,
carrying another’s burdens,
having unpleasant conversations,
watching loved ones careen toward destruction while they stiff-arm attemtps at salvation,
stewarding un-fulfilled longings,
dealing with shattered hopes,
navigating Life in this sin-cursed Middle Earth of ours with all its complexities & Beauty & pain & uncertainty.

This is the Main Event.

In the face of our knee-jerk tendency toward self-preservation, ease, & a Life insulated against all discomfort;
this is the Main Event.
There’s no hiding from it like cowards, pleading natural weakness & insufficiency. ‘Cause there’s a remedy for that too: & He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you for My power is made perfect in weakness.

On our own, we are, have, & can do
Nothing.

In Christ, we are strong.

& so we stumble on,
at times through the blinding rain of our tears;
at times wishing it wasn’t this way;
at times wanting to lay down & let it all take us;
at times desperate to retreat;
at times longing for an extended time of peace & Joy;

& yet, we fight on, facing the Darkness ’cause it’s His blood coursing through our veins, lending us aid.

The Main Event demands our full attention & whole-hearted effort ’cause it’s where Christ has placed us. These are the battle lines, drawn up by the sovereign, loving hand of our Saviour King. & so this is where we fight, rolling up our sleeves, straightening our shoulders, grabbing our swords, & waging War.

It’s staying put in hard conversations when we’d rather disappear,
getting down & dirty to solve issues,
warring with our sins & demons,
dealing with un-wanted Events like singleness, child-lessness, unemployment, etc etc
bending our hearts to weather Grief like soldiers despite the real sorrow,
mining uncomfortable emotions & sorting through them with our Father instead of stifling them out of avoidance,
hearing hard news about a loved one & choosing to stand with them in prayer no matter our fear & discouragement,
embracing Joy & hardship with the same focused resolve,
choosing to roll our burdens onto the Most High instead of foolishly trying to carry them on our own.

It’s real hard, lovely humans, I know.

It’s perhaps 1 of the hardest things about living here in the Shadowlands;
weathering Storms while holding onto the promise of Heaven & Home.

But it’s the Main Event.
It’s the business at hand & Christ has called us to it, promising to never leave us nor forsake us no matter how heavy the Darkness gets.

It’s rough out here some days, but we’re not alone.

& these things, these Truths,
well,
they keep us fighting 🖤

death to the Shadow
courage
always courage
behold
we have not lived in vain

“Much as we wish, not one of us can bring back yesterday or shape tomorrow. Only today is ours, and it will not be ours for long, and once it is gone it will never in all time be ours again. ⁣
⁣Thou only knowest what it holds in store for us, yet even we know something of what it will hold. ⁣
⁣The chance to speak the truth, ⁣
to show mercy, ⁣
to ease another’s burden. ⁣
The chance to resist evil, ⁣
to remember all the good times and good people of our past, ⁣
to be brave, ⁣
to be strong, ⁣
to be glad.”⁣
~ Frederick Buechner // The Hungering Dark