The Sucky World of Conjunction Mode

Okay all you children of the 80's....complete this song: Conjunction Junction what's your function....hooking up _______________. Most children who grew up in the US from 1973 to 1986 saw School House Rock on ABC's Saturday morning cartoons and can complete the words to that song along with "5, 10, 15, 20...", "Lolly, lolly, lolly get your adverbs here" and "I'm just a bill, yes I'm only a bill and I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill."

Conjunction Junction --a personal favorite--featured a railroad conductor putting cars together. So, going back to the words...

Conjunction Junction, what's your function?
Hooking up words and phrases and clauses.
Conjunction Junction, how's that function?
I got three favorite cars
That get most of my job done.
Conjunction Junction, what's their function?
I got "and", "but", and "or",
They'll get you pretty far.

The reality is that most of us hate the times we are in "conjunction mode". Phil Keaggy (with Wes King and Scott Dente on the Invention album) put it well...

I am neither this nor that, I'm not here or there;
I am in between something and somewhere.

And most of us hate the in between places. Being between jobs, between relationships, between school and career, between moving from one place to another. Worse, God seems to keep us in those "conjunction" places for an uncomfortably long time. And the thing about "conjunction mode" is that it doesn't really seem to be anything. Just the empty space between the railroad cars.

Which is scary, because you can see the tracks racing under your feet. The thing is, the tracks are always there. It is just that having a tin car around you makes you feel like you are safe. Like you have some control.

For those of us who believe in a God who loves us, the reality is that we are no more "safe" being here or there than being in between "something and somewhere." And it occurs to me that God likes conjunction mode because we become so much more aware of the differences between us and Him. We realize we don't have control. That we aren't "safe. And once we get over that, we can enjoy the scenery that usually gets eclipsed by the tin walls of the railroad cars.

Just don't look down. You'll likely freak out.