The in-between
“We live in the space between these two realities…This is where life happens... the Christian life.” - Fr. Nicholas
The line in the priest’s homily shared between two icons helped put a lot into perspective. About the spiritual walk. About life. About the very purpose of the artwork.
The two icons flanking the altar’s Royal Doors bookmark tension. The Theotokos is on one side, pointing to the incarnate God in her lap (the Hodigitria –“She who shows the way”). Christ Pantokrator (“Ruler of All”) is on the other, depicting Christ as the King and Judge.
One reveals His coming in mercy.
The other reveals His coming in judgment.
And in between them, the doors through which the Gospel is proclaimed, the Eucharist offered, heaven and earth joined.
The place from which you ultimately leave in a box.
That space, the priest said, is where the Christian life happens.
Not just in moments of clarity or completion, but in the tension of two realities:
Between mercy and accountability.
Between the beginning and the end.
Between what we already know and what we still long for.
It was a metaphor for where I find myself right now: in the in-between, feeling tension.
But it turns out the in-between is something to be embraced and leaned into.
It’s where God does His work.
Lines That Stayed With Me is a personal series of reflections on things I’ve heard in the Orthodox Church that made me pause and think deeply. These are my interpretations—shaped by where I’ve come from, including my Protestant background—and how I’ve been processing them as part of my ongoing journey.
Matt, I am really appreciating your thoughts right now. I am working on communications at my church and with a staff member who thinks that our message should be totally fun and informal—kind of trying to equate church with your own comfy couch. I keep feeling like any other approach is wrong. Your writing upholds the awesome and mysterious aspects of worship.