as a christian, our whole belief system can be summed up by recounting a few very significant events (give or take): the crucifixion of Christ, His resurrection, and His promise to return for us one day, and it's through the reading of scripture and the ways in which the living word transforms our lives that we can hold fast to this truth of these promises.

but sometimes, i think, we forget that there were three days in between the cross and the resurrection; three very, very dark days, in fact.

days filled with sadness and sorrow, doubt and confusion. feelings of abandonment.

but here's the thing - though the disciples (and every one else who believed in Jesus) possessed hope in who he said He was all along, i imagine that they still wrestled through, and had to sit in, all of the other emotions i mentioned above.

so why can't we?

we're quick to tell ourselves to move on; we drink one too many beers or watch hours upon hours of netflix to numb our pain or cover it up by saying things we think we should or things we want people want to hear. we tell our friends to pray harder, to read the bible more, or to move on or snap out of it because of the hope we possess in Christ.

there's a time for this i know; i, for one, am thankful for my friends who shed some much needed perspective on stuff i go through and in doing so, point me back to the truth, but what if, instead, we allowed ourselves (and our friends) to process and feel sometimes? to wail and cry? scream? hide under the covers and sit in our pain for a *little* while?

because, truth be told, there's no escaping difficulty and heartbreak here on this earth and we're doing ourselves an injustice if we try and avoid it or bury it, and like some of the disciples in Jesus' day, just because you allow yourself to feel an array of emotion during the 'in between' doesn't mean you do so without faith or hope.

"there is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens
...a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance."

[ecclesiastes 3:1,4]