The caterpillar crosses the threshold of the chrysalis. The draught-infested land sees on the horizon-threshold the storm forming. The father and his young child sit in the dark on the hill huddled together in the cool night when suddenly the threshold of the horizon announces the coming of dawn’s light. Each of these experiences illustrates the value of the threshold as a channel of change.
A threshold announces the potential for transformation. In this place of potential, in this place of uncertainty, in this place of decision making, we are required to slow down, be patient and be aware of what is happening. In choosing to be at a threshold we choose to yield to potential growth and change.
In order to cross the threshold we often sense, if not directly know, that we must let go of something or we must empty our self in order to make space for the new. We must also do our best to make sure that we have the energy and the commitment so that we can take the step — tentative or determined — that will put us over the threshold.
Threshold times can cleanse us of false perceptions; they can also sharpen our perceptions. These perceptions will help us see what depletes us and what nurtures us. Threshold times are our spiritual chrysalises which provide us the times for our four life-dimensions to grow. During these times we heal and we nurture our physical, our intellectual, our emotional and our spiritual dimensions.
My oldest sister and I were estranged when she died suddenly. I was thrown into darkness and grief and I remained there for many months. I so wanted to reverse time and I wanted to be able to step back over that threshold so I could reconcile with her. I wanted to tell her of my love for her. I wanted to thank her for so many things. Slowly, over many months, I began to glimpse little pieces of light and as more light penetrated my dark soul I made a decision that I would never allow myself to be estranged from the other members of my family; this was a commitment I made to myself and to my oldest sister. In more than twenty-seven years now, I have not broken that commitment.
For me, also, the power of a threshold resounds in the resurrection story — from the darkness of the tomb Christ came forth transformed. I-You-We are also given throughout our lives the gift of the ‘tomb’ and we can choose to remain in the darkness or we can choose to use the time of darkness to foster our transformation so that we can move across the threshold into the light. The hope for me is that as long as I am alive I can choose to embrace the threshold times of my life in such a way that I will emerge changed, if not transformed.
As I was editing this entry I remembered the counsel of the wise: ‘Be Not Afraid!’ An apt mantra when facing the challenge of stepping over certain thresholds.
Searcher-Seeker 