No Longer ~ Not Yet

Recently I saw a quote, “Honour the space between no longer and not yet.” That is definitely the space we are in… no longer the way it was and not yet the way it will be. We have had several conversations here at the church wondering what Christmas will look like around here. The common response is, “Who knows!”. We are trying to make plans even as we live in these in-between times. We all know what we have lost, what we cannot do anymore, what is no longer, those things are easy to name. But we have not yet figured out what the future looks like. We are not there yet and this ‘pandemic hiatus’ can either make us crazy or give us time to pause and reflect.

We are in liminal time. Liminal comes from the Latin word ‘limen’, meaning ‘threshold’. In it’s literal sense, a threshold is a doorway. Liminal is often used to describe the threshold, or gateway between two stages. Liminal is also used to describe in-between spaces, places and feelings. Author and theologian Richard Rohr defines liminal time this way, “It is when you have left, or are about to leave, the tried and true, but have not yet been able to replace it with anything else. It is when you are between your old comfort zone and any possible new answer. If you are not trained in how to hold anxiety, how to live with ambiguity, how to entrust and wait, you will run … anything to flee this terrible cloud of unknowing.” He goes on to say that ancient cultures referred to liminal space as “crazy time“.

How does this liminal time feel for you? What is happening for you during this pandemic pause. Are you holding your anxiety? As we now move into month 8 of changed living I am finding a continued call to go deeper into the issues of my personal life – confronting grief, considering relationships, assessing my issues, oh, c’mon – we all have issues. We have gone beyond sorting our sock drawer and baking bread (okay, I never really baked bread but I hear that other people did!) and now we know that this time of spending time alone, this time as we bubble with a small group of people, and spending time with God, is going to be with us for some time yet to come.

Our Executive Council meets this week and I have asked them to come having thought about what it means to be the church in liminal times – what is our ministry as this time stretches into the next few months? What are we praying for in this liminal time and where is God for us in liminal time? I think we can do better than make it “Crazy time”. I think we need to honour the time that is between “no longer and not yet”.

This afternoon I am going to be planting my spring bulbs – a good Sabbath day activity. Plunging dry bulbs into darkness for them to burst forth with colour and fragrance in the spring. As I plant, and plant, and plant I will be thinking about liminal time and what it means for me and for my church.