Liminal Space…

“But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31  

I have never claimed to be the smartest person in the room… (nor have I ever been accused of it) and I can’t tell you how many times I have been told… “You just don’t understand!” (Sigh) But the truth is… there are a lot of things that I don’t understand. Just this morning, I was reading an article that talked about “Liminal Space.” Now I must concede that I have heard the expression used hundreds of times before, and, admittedly, it is usually used by people who are a great deal smarter than I am… but, until now, I have never taken the time, or bother, to look it up. So this morning I took a moment to find out what is “Liminal Space” … Do you know? Am I the only one who didn’t know?… Good I’m glad I wasn’t the only one.

“The word liminal comes from the Latin word ‘limen’, meaning threshold – any point or place of entering or beginning. A liminal space is the time between the ‘what was’ and the ‘next.’ It is a place of transition, a season of waiting, and not knowing. Liminal space is where all transformation takes place, if we learn to wait…”

Liminal space… Wow… I love that expression… a time of transition, a time of waiting, a time of not knowing, a time between the ‘what is’ and the ‘what is next.’ My friends, we definitely find ourselves in “liminal space.” The Corona virus has upended everything that was “normal” to us. Our daily and weekly routine has changed completely and we wonder when (or if) our lives will ever get back to “normal” and if so, what will a new “normal” look like? As a church, we find ourselves in a season of preparation for reopening our worship services, although we are still not sure exactly what that will look like. As the United Methodist Church, we find ourselves in a season of waiting to discover what will happen after the rescheduled General Conference next year. We are definitely in liminal space.

But the good news is that we are not alone… we have One who is journeying with us, we have One who will never leave us, abandon us or forsake us, we have One who will walk with us through the valley of the shadow of death.

My friends, in this season… in this liminal space, may you…  “be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,” Colossians 1:11

Blessings,

Pastor Jim