Liminality:
lim·i·nal·i·ty /ˌlɪməˈnælɪti
[lim-uh-nal-i-tee]
–noun Anthropology .
the transitional period or phase of a rite of passage, during which the participant lacks social status or rank, remains anonymous, shows obedience and humility, and follows prescribed forms of conduct.
Origin: limin--threshold
The waiting place between a past and a future.
lim·i·nal·i·ty /ˌlɪməˈnælɪti
[lim-uh-nal-i-tee]
–noun Anthropology .
the transitional period or phase of a rite of passage, during which the participant lacks social status or rank, remains anonymous, shows obedience and humility, and follows prescribed forms of conduct.
Origin: limin--threshold
The waiting place between a past and a future.
"It's as if we were caught in a darkened vestibule between an old way of being and a new...the doors of the past close behind us. The doors to the future are still unopened. Too often we forget that only by enduring our time in the liminal space between those doors, waiting for an opening, can we eventually move across a threshold into the future." -Jane R. Pretat
Psalm 56:2 O Most High, when I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
Luke 11:9 Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.
6 comments:
I am glad to know there's a word for that transitional period. Many knows the phase yet wouldn't know how to describe it....
Liza
This is really beautiful! I would only expect you to find the right words for it and I love thinking about it. xoxo
sharon
Doggone, that liminal space. I'm right there with you. =)
Seems like a word just not wanting to embrace the present.
Gary
A simple word that says so very much.
I do more than my fair share of pondering particularly in these days of mid-life-ish transitioning. As a kid, the words and advice voiced by the older generation seemed to simply go in one ear and out the other, or so I thought. But, apparently, some stayed tucked in somewhere in the back of my mind only to be remembered at a much later date. Now, they sound so different to me.
Does this seem like a strange random thought? Reading your post seems to have dis-lodged it...
Liminal spaces. Sometimes I suspect that I linger too long or that I take a step through and then retreat.
We do our best to avoid those liminal times, the humble, obedient, anonymous times of painful transitions. God knows we do! But God's grace is strong there and our hope becomes more cemented and sure. The future hope becomes more of our view and yet the present becomes more intense as well. Love to you guys.
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