Living in the Middle

12-17-09 remembering brain
PS: I wrote this in 1998, and I believe it still is relevant today. Our challenges continue, sadly, much has not changed.




“Living in the Middle”
by Judy Sebern Beachy

Excerpts from “Judy’s Journal” an unpublished manuscript of rambling thoughts.
December 20, 1998
The headlines of the Des Moines Register Newspaper today (as probably every paper in the nation, if not the world) read “Clinton Impeached”. This is a very sad, dark day for our country. Yet, is there a chance light and hope could come out of this mess in the end? Is there a lesson to be learned?

I find it so ironic that our society (the media, music, fashion, etc…) which has been so infatuated and saturated with sex for so many decades, is now impeaching our President for lying about his sexual affairs. Can this situation help open our eyes to our society’s decadence?

In my Sunday church class, the topic we have been discussing for several weeks now has been ethics. So today, we had a lively discussion of impeachment as well as the bombing of Iraq, which took place this week. As one would expect in a group discussion, there were many differing opinions, however, the common thread was the feelings of dismay, frustration, futility and sadness shared by us all.

Thank goodness today’s sermon (Reflections on Candlelight/Dr. Sam Massey) offered some comfort to me. In his sermon, Sam reminded us, about the Christmas Eve celebration and the traditional candlelight service. The sanctuary lights are turned off. As we sit in total darkness, one candle is lit, and the light is passed from person to person. The individual candles become eliminated one by one. The room starts to glow in the light, however, there still remains some darkness and shadows………always…...……………always some darkness.

This is the world we live in; one filled with both darkness and light, one filled with Democrats and Republicans, war and peace, wealth and poverty, saints and sinners, and a world celebrating the birth of Jesus at the same time participating in the consumerism of Santa Claus.

This is our challenge today- living in the middle. But, hasn’t it always been this way throughout time? In the New Year of 1999, I’ll try to remember this comforting thought, whenever I light a candle.


John 1 (5): “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”