Thresholds

Releasing tight grip
what I want 
to be real

Lightening hold
what I want
to see

Opening soul
enters
reality

Truth found
goodness, sadness abide
joy, suffering reside

This 
moving
forward

Recently I finished two books for the Great Books of the Western World reading project: Exodus, tradition says it was written by Moses and Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. Also, I have been reading the Center for Action and Contemplation's journal, Oneing: An Alternative Orthodoxy. The theme of this journal is 'Liminal Space.' 

'In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between them, there are doors.' This quote by William Blake describes liminal spaces. Liminal comes from the Latin word limen, which means threshold. In the journal's introduction, Richard Rohr states, '(t)he two greatest liminal spaces in human life are great love and great suffering.' These thresholds are present in our lives; they lead us to the unknown. It is what we do in this space that determines how we grow, what we learn, and what we will become.

 

Gulliver's Travels, written in 1726, is a satire of the state of affairs in England. Gulliver sets out, as usual, to sea and finds himself in the most unusual places. As James Danaher writes in his essay, Truth and Liminality, 'As we enter into liminal space, everything becomes new and amazing, but always most unfamiliar.' In The Voyage to Lilliput, Gulliver is pinned to the ground with ropes over his entire body. This has been done to him by the tiniest of people. As he is forced into stillness in this strange place, he becomes still, listens, and begins to learn the language. Gulliver recounts what he says when he can finally speak the language, '(t)he first words I learnt where to express my desire, that he would please to give me my liberty.' It was in his stillness that he learned something new and could then express his desire.

 

In Exodus, Moses took the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the promised land. After the ten plagues, the Jewish people were finally going to cross the Red Sea and escape slavery. The crossing of the Red Sea is a threshold of knowing what was on one side of the sea and not knowing what was on the other. James Danaher continues in his essay, 'things that are familiar feel safer and more manageable. This is true even when the 'norm' is self-limiting or even painful.' At the edge of the sea, God speaks to Moses, 'Fear not, stand firm. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.' Many wanted to turn around and go back to what they knew when seeing the Egyptian army approaching. There was nothing for them to do on the edge of this threshold but be silent.

 

We all recognize this space where we experience 'great suffering' or share 'great love.' We have all been on this threshold. As I reflect on the thresholds in my own life, I am aware of the time I needed to cross over to the unknown. This threshold space does not happen quickly for me. I have learned that it is vital to keep going forward in this space and not turn around to what seems familiar. In order not to get stuck, I must not be self-limiting. That which is required to move through to the other side, the side of the unknown, is stillness, silence, being, and learning.

 

Did I say I am working on my Swedish? Det är svårt för mig men jag försöker. 

Image by Andreas at Läckö Slott.

• Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals (1785) by Immanuel Kant
• Anxioux People (2019) by Fredrik Backman
• Meadowlands (1996) by Louise Glück
• On Liberty (1859) by John Stuart Mill
• Paradise Lost (1663) by John Milton
• Tale of Two Cities (1859) by Charles Dickens
• Paradise Regained (1671) by John Milton

Currently Reading:

• Psalm (5th Century BC) by King David and Solomon
• Averno (2006) by Louise Glück
• Kajsa Kavat (1950) by Astrid Lindgren
• Proverbs (8th Century BC) by King Solomon
• Oneing: An Alternative Orthodoxy Liminal Space (2020)

Audio:

• What Unites Us ( 2017) by Dan Rather