Liminal Boundaries–Sacred Space

Several years ago Richard Rohr wrote a daily devotion about liminal space.  Liminal refers to spaces of transitional or in-between spaces such as a threshold boundary or the time between new stages in life.  It is a physical place or metaphorical sense of not being where you were and not yet being where you are going.  It is marked by feelings of uncertainty, nostalgia, and discomfort.   

So here we are in Ordinary time–inbetween Pentecost and Advent.  Deepening our calling as disciples and learning how to live our the gifts we have been given as individuals and as a congregation.  In our ordinarily time we have begun searching for a pastor and sharing our building.  Both of these endeavors contain the traits of liminal space:  uncertainty, nostalgia and discomfort.  There are plenty of questions about our purpose–not a sense of what we should be doing, we have spent much time with the Core Values and the Profile Statement. We include that statement at the end of every newsletter. 

It is the question of How–how do we live our values in the community, as well as in our own congregation.  “How” certainly feels liminal.  In-between the familiar ways, the comfort of our own sanctuary, the review of the way things have always been and something different, something not quite certain and not quite comfortable, something that we each might see in different ways.  

Biblically, read Chapter 10 of the Book of Acts.  It is the story of Cornelius and Peter, a Gentile and a Jew, a centurion in the Italian Regiment and an apostle of Jesus.  There are rules against such people eating together and such people eating specific foods. Even about such people coming together, let alone as partners in faith.  But God has spoken to both men, has called them to come together.  As is always typical, God hasn’t given all the ins and outs of the details or reasons. What they knew became questionable and either could have refused for good reason. But these two men respond only from their faith in Jesus Christ.  The result–transformation in both men and the others who were there to witness the event.  

It was a pebble in the pond and only God knows the extent of those ripples. Uncertain, uncomfortable and yet, in that liminal space, God stripped away what needed to be stripped away so that each man would be open to live more fully in Christ.  Rohr writes, “Yet the irony is that liminal space doesn’t have to be difficult. While it can be challenging, it can also be extremely rewarding. I discover there is another Center, and it’s not me!’’ (meditations@cac.org)  So it is that in liminal seasons, we turn to God and trust in the guidance of the Holy Spirit, knowing that  questions will be answered in good faith.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1 NIV)