Meditations During Advent: On the Threshold

“In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between them, there are doors.” —William Blake

 

Language is steeped in metaphor. We often describe standing in front of a door as being on “the threshold”. A threshold is what you step across when you enter a room. A threshold takes you from one place into another, and when you're about to start something new, you're also on a threshold. A threshold is a point of departure or transition; something must be left behind to move into something new. Each new chapter of our lives brings endings and beginnings.

 

In his book “To Bless the Space Between Us”, Irish poet John O’Donohue writes:

 

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. 

 

Genuinely engaging with the grief and the growth of our threshold moments can truly be transformational. O’Donohue invites us to take our first steps by reflecting on these five questions:

 

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?”

 

Richard Rohr tells us thresholds enable us “to see beyond ourselves to the broader and more inclusive world that lies before us”.

 

The willingness to embrace these threshold moments allows us to choose hope over denial or despair. Our former certainty has died, but in its place are the seeds of a hope which isn’t simply wishing but formed by glimpses of possibility and purpose.

 

O’Donohue concludes:

“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.

 

There are threshold moments in each of our lives. Moments when the past that lies behind us seems present and real. Moments when the future that lies ahead of us seems apparent and hopeful. Such special threshold moments when past and future meet in a vivid awareness of Now are rare and holy. Times such as these remind us that our time together comes to us as a precious gift.

 

A Blessing as we stand on this Threshold.

 

“What we choose changes us.

Who we love transforms us.

How we create remakes us.

Where we live reshapes us.

So in all our choosing, God, make us wise.

In all our loving, Christ, make us bold.

In all our creating, Spirit, give us courage.

In all our living, may we become whole.

And may God’s blessing be upon all of us who listen and those we love, and for those for whom we pray this day and forever more.  Amen.”        

 

- The Rev. Dr. Bruce Grob