The Space Between

 
a doorway looking out to an open field

"Find the door to your heart and you will discover that it is the door to the Kingdom of God." John Chrysostom

"To guide us toward the love we most desire, we must be taken where we could not and would not go on our own. And lest we sabotage the journey, we must not know where were are going. Deep in the darkness, way beneath our senses, God is instilling 'another, better love,' and 'deeper, more urgent longings' that empower our willingness for all the necessary relinquishments along the way." Gerald May

At any time you can ask yourself: At which threshold am I now standing? At this time in my life, what am I leaving? Where am I about to enter? What is preventing me from crossing my next threshold? What gift would enable me to do it? A threshold is not a simple boundary; it is a frontier that divides two different territories, rhythms and atmospheres.

Indeed, it is a lovely testimony to the fullness and integrity of an experience or a stage of life that it intensifies toward the end into a real frontier that cannot be crossed without the heart being passionately engaged and woken up. At this threshold a great complexity of emotions comes alive: confusion, fear, excitement, sadness, hope.

This is one of the reasons such vital crossing were always clothed in ritual. It is wise in your own life to be able to recognize and acknowledge the key thresholds; to take your time; to feel all the varieties of presence that accrue there; to listen inward with complete attention until you hear the inner voice calling you forward.

The time has come to cross. 

To acknowledge and cross a new threshold is always a challenge. It demands courage and also a sense of trust in whatever is emerging. This becomes essential when a threshold opens suddenly in front of you, one for which you had no preparation. This could be illness, suffering or loss. Because we are so engaged with the world, we usually forget how fragile life can be and how vulnerable we always are.

Excerpted from To Bless the Space Between Us by John O’Donohue

As Advent nears, consider asking yourself: 

  • At which threshold am I now standing?

  • At this time in my life, what am I leaving?

  • Where am I about to enter?

  • What is preventing me from crossing my next threshold?

  • What gift would enable me to do it?

 
Judy Nelson Lewislife changes, thresholds, new experiences