Taking a brief interlude from country and blue grass groups, the Pax Plena song of the week comes to you courtesy of alternative music group Lifehouse and is titled Somewhere in Between.

Through minor chords and repetitive melody, the song commends an obvious sympathy for anyone living amid one of life’s crossroads and waiting for the next steps to become clear. It’s mellow tenor communicates that the ultimate message of the song is as much one of grace as it is one of transition. The unspoken lesson seems to be that time has a way of effecting the change for which we wait. We initially reach a point of questioning, “why am I losing sleep over this” until we arrive at the conclusion we are “somewhere in between.” This place has many locales be it in between anger and forgiveness, sorrow and joy, or tumult and peace. Still, during these periods we find grace through the Philippians sense of working out our own salvation as we confront the obstacle in debating “what is real and just a dream.”

In some sense, our entire lives are devoted to this Pauline task. Desmond Tutu told me at breakfast many years ago “There’s only one way to eat an elephant- one bite at a time.” This maxim is true for life. It is a point both obvious and inevitable in the song but it’s instructive for anyone waiting, praying, seeking or yearning and finding themselves somewhere in between.

Somewhere in Between

I cant be losing sleep over this, no I can’t
And now I can not stop pacing
Give me a few hours, I’ll have all this sorted out
If my mind would just stop racing

Cause I cannot stand still
I cant be this unsturdy
This cannot be happening

This is over my head but underneath my feet
Cuz by tomorrow morning I’ll have this thing beat
And everything will be back to the way that it was
I wish that it was just that easy

Cuz I’m waiting for tonight
Then waiting for tomorrow
And I’m somewhere in between
What is real, and just a dream
What is real, and just a dream
What is real, and just a dream

Would you catch me if I fall out of what I fell in
Don’t be surprised if I collapse down at your feet again
I don’t want to run away from this
I know that I just don’t need this

Cause I cannot stand still
I can’t be this unsturdy
This cannot be happening

Cuz I’m waiting for tonight
Then waiting for tomorrow
And I’m somewhere in between
What is real, and just a dream
What is real, and just a dream
What is real, and just a dream