Liminal Space

What if we stopped thinking of liminal space as transition from here to there, or as a holding pattern until we reach the “main event” of life. What if we considered liminal space the way the ancient Hebrew tribes experienced it as a sacred place, marked by blood and with truth lessons written on the doorposts and lentils overhead?

Liminal space calls for a new perspective on time. The Greeks give us words to define two aspects of time. Chronos was the chronologic passing of time, while kairos referred to something beyond time. Chornos asks, ”What time is it? When will things change?”  Kairos asks, “What is this time for? What is the purpose for this time and am I attentive to that purpose?” Chronos quantifies time. Kairos qualifies it.

But we get antsy in what we perceive as liminal space (such as sheltering in place at home, waiting for the COVID-19 pandemic to pass over us). What if we shifted our gaze from the clock and turned our hearts to the calling that asks, “What is this time for?” 

Transition is not a place to avoid or hurry from. It holds a now-and-not-yet quality, a letting go and reaching forward, But it is also a place and time to consider, remember, honor, meditate on and imagine what this time is for and how it can identify us as a people of God who are crafting an enriched awareness of what we value and who we are in such a time as this..

What is your time for? How has it marked your life as belonging to God?