During all the activities of the past few weeks - Holy Week the same week as spring break, three teenagers and all related activities, work and other duties - I began to notice that I keep adjusting my belt. It is not due to a major shift in my weight. I weigh about five pounds less than I weighed in high school (which drives Cyndy nuts). And I am way past high school. It is due to, as the Monty Python crew would say, something completely different.
When I buy a belt, it fits snugly. Maybe right after my jeans have been washed, the belt might feel a little loose, but when my jeans work back out, it fits fine again. Inevitably, at some point in time, I begin to notice that I need to tighten up the belt a little. But sure enough, when I try to tighten it, I find that I cannot. I find I am once again in my personal twilight zone of being "between holes."
When I bought the belt I had a two hole leeway. Both worked okay, but one a little better. Where did that leeway go? Okay, the belt is leather and leather will flex a bit after time - I get that. And jeans tighten and loosen - I get that, too. But the holes are the same distance apart they always were - within a fraction of an inch. And although I am at the age that my body is beginning to shift, it has not as yet affected my waist.
It is not a recent occurrence. The situation is the same with our son’s belts - when they wear them. Many times I have taken out my pocket knife and fashioned a new hole in a belt. But that is only a temporary solution and does not work for any thing close to a formal event. And, unlike the original holes, it tends to grow, sometimes splitting the belt in the middle to the next original hole or simply splitting it in half.
Unfortunately, it is not a problem for which I think there will be a solution. But it did - as everything does - get me to thinking. About the times in our lives when we find ourselves between holes. We receive life with all the right holes - with a two hole leeway. We keep going back and forth between one hole and another. Because we do not keep on a steady path, the leather stretches, the jeans flex, and we find we need another hole. Which we try to make ourselves. But the holes we make are inferior to the original holes and do not stand up to use and wear.
The between hole theory can apply to our bodies, the planet, and our faith. We take what we are given, as perfect as it can be, and flex it, stretch it, use it, and abuse it until we suddenly find ourselves between holes. Then we think we can solve it on our own. We make another hole. But our solutions are only temporary and usually to not stand the test of time.
We need to work within the boundaries of what we were originally given. Stay within limits and follow the path as we know we ought to. Listen to the Lord when he speaks to us, and have "a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith."
Peace be with you.
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