“Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow.”
-T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Man
15 words, 5 lines, the power and beauty of poetry. (This is only part of the much longer poem which you can read here.)
I believe that life happens in the between; in the already, but not yet of eternity. This is the unavoidable truth of our current, finite existence. I also choose to believe that we have purpose and meaning while in the between.
And so it seems like a waste of energy to avoid or ignore this between-ness. It seems like a waste of time to live as if it weren’t so. Like the name of the poem, it seems hollow, empty, lifeless.
To hallow is “to make holy or sacred, to sanctify or consecrate, to venerate.” As used in The Lord’s Prayer, it means holy, consecrated, sacred, or revered.
What falls in the between for you? Is it hollow or hallow? Is it empty or holy? Is it a kind of death or a new kind of life? You choose.
