liminality grace

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Liminality: The Transforming Grace

of In-between Places

Anne Franks, Grad. Dip . Hu m . Stud., M.Ed.

Pastoral Caie Coordinator

Program Coordinator, School of Christian Studies

Christian Hentage College

322 Wecker Rd.

Mansfield DC, Qld., 4122

Australia

John M et eya rd , M.A., Chr.St., P h . D .

Lecturer, School of Social Science

Christian Hentage College322 Wecker Rd.

Mansfield DC, Qld., 4122

Australia

Richard Rohr1 suggests that the only way ou t of a person's entr apmen t in "normal

cy, the way things are," is to be drawn into sacred space, often called liminality,

where he believes all genuine transformation occurs. Liminality, from the Latin

word for threshold, is the state of being betwixt and between where the old world

has been left behind but we have not yet arrived at what is to come. This article

attempts to develop an understanding of liminality using metaphors of wilderness,tomb, and exile as found in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures. It seeks to recon

cile the paradox of the apparent hiddenness of God and the concurrent oppor

tunity to see Him in new ways that occurs in these times. Pastoral care and

counseling applications for those working with people in liminal space are briefly

engaged.

One part of the landscape on the spiritual journey that often produces confusion and uncertainty1 is what Richard Rohr calls limi-nality (from the Latin limen), meaning threshold. This bewildering

phenomena, familiar in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, creates for atime either contextual or inner dissonance which, when its work is complete, is often understood by the person involved as having facilitated considerable personal growth and change. While little understood during itsoccurrence, in retrospect one can identify that through the profoundnessof God's transforming grace, there has been some deconstruction of falsetowers of existence, and some reshaping of the person's self, in readinessfor them to inhabit a new dwelling place on the journey.

Various writers seek to capture the essence of this spiritual space in dif

ferent ways. Paul Tournier3

talks of the experience of "being in between,"such as "between the time we leave home and arrive at our destination."E P t

4t f th t i f th b lik i it



being "betwixt and between [where] the old world is left behind, but wTe're

not sure of the new~ one yet."° The thread common to all these writers is asense of displacement,7 that sense of being in no man's land, where thelandscape appears completely different, there is no discernable road map,and where the journeyer is jolted out of normalcy.

Personal Experience of Liminality

A reflective revisiting of one's spiritual journey will most probably revealmore than one such experience. As I (Anne) scan the years of my spiritual life I can identify three significant periods of liminality. However, mymost recent experience began its work in Januarv of 2000. As with much of the rest of the world, the dawning of the newT millennium wras significantfor me. I had this inescapable sense that God was saying, "Three years andthen change." While this was the extent of the revelation, as a woman who

has sought for thirty years to be responsive to God's call and purpose in mylife, I sat up with attention. My response wTas one of asking God to prepareme, equip me, teach me, mold me, and bring to being whatever was in Hisheart.

What followed at first was a heightened awareness of, and great intensification of, wiiat was spiritual normalcy for me. God's communication wasmore easily discerned, prayer deeper, insight became sharper, and I strongly felt that God was at work readying me for some unspecified role of working with others in a pastoral capacity. In response, I commenced further

study to credential myself for what might lie ahead.With the benefit of hindsight I realize, however, that accompanying this

gift of heightened spiritual engagement and appropriate desire for preparedness, was my own overwhelming need for my woundedness to be covered, to be seen as normal in the sight of others, and as special to God. Inactuality-1 had fallen into the trap of what Henri Nouwen* dubs the temptation to be "spectacular or individually heroic," and that at a very deepinner place, my ego was in the ascent and I was at work, again, constructing my own identity as a "more spiritual one." God, the one who transforms

us by the constancv of his love (2 Corìnthians 3:18 NIY, Micah 7:18 GNB)didn't abandon me in that place of falsity. About eighteen months later, thelandscape suddenly shifted, as I was thrust into a completely unfamiliarspace which could only be likened to wandering in a wilderness. God'svoice could not be heard, Scripture was as dust, compassion could not befound within, and discernment and insight was something that I could nolonger fathom. Accompanying this apparent silence from Heaven, was adeep awareness of my distorted self.

For the next twelve months, I traversed the landscape of my liminality,

and paradoxically, lived in two planes of being and knowing. On one plane,there was a level of scandal and horror as I began to perceive the falsenessof my ascendant self for the first time It seemed as if there was a certain lie



felt more uncertain in my spirituality than ever before amid my intensesense of anguish and grieving over the "false self'

10and a collapse of the

familiar propellants to do and to be.Conversely and simultaneously on another plane, however, there were

glimpses of an equally intense relief as I entered into experiences of deep

listening through contemplation and solitude. As I sat or walked in silenceand solitude, it wTas as if my wiiole being experienced new7 levels of knowing, seeking, being, and belonging. As I looked out from this perspective,I sensed that this might be the most extraordinary and integrative experience of my spiritual journey.

In the earlier stages of this two-planed experience of being and knowing, I was troubled and highly confused about the paradox that I wasencountering. Those wTho knewT me well and wTere looking on as bystandersmust also ha\e experienced confusion about what wTas happening in my

spiritual world. On one hand, those observable aspects of my spiritualitythat were usually exercised within community were not present, such asactively contributing in a leadership capacity in corporate spiritual activities such as staff devotions, prayer meetings, or preaching in chapel or inone-to-one situations such as pastoral ministry to students. Yet, on the otherhand, some would have been aware of a movement within me towardsinner peace, tranquility, and, quite startlingly, a beginning capacity to "livewith contradictions."11 As time passed, I came to more easily dwell withinthe mystery

7of paradox, wiiich is perhaps something of what Thomas Mer

ton, as quoted in Palmer,12

was referring to wiien he wrote, "I have had toaccept the fact that my life is almost totally paradoxical."

Within this space of liminality, I received the gift of acceptance fromthose around me, who never challenged or confronted me, but rather heldme with cords of loving-kindness. Some responded to me as if all was normal. Others gently and appropriately brought solace through bearing witness to the constancy of God's love by listening and trying to make meaningof liminal reality, while writers such as Dumm,13 Nouwen,14 and Vanier15

served as spiritual guides to me as they validated the movements within my journey.

This season of liminality drew7 to an end at the end of 2002, when just asunexpectedly as I had been thrust into this space, a veil pulled back, and Iknew7 that I had emerged into a sense of light and freedom. God's purposes for the next season of my life had also become clear. As I seek to makemeaning of this experience I note several things. I have an increased senseof the legitimacy of my unique spiritual journey. There is a consciousnessthat is my w

7alk wiiich is shaped bv many unique elements of self. Origins,

family, spiritual experiences, giftings, and opportunities all intersect in theself. Therefore, I cannot impose the landscape of my journey on anyone

else, neither should they impose their landscape on me. I sense that all wecan really do is listen, encourage, reveal tentatively what we've learnt, pro-



Metaphors of Liminality in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures

Having considered the experience of liminality from both the personal perspective of Anne's story and some of the growing field of literature that discusses this deeply paradoxical aspect of the spiritual journey, it is alsohelpful to reflect on wiiat the Jewish and Christian Scriptures reveal about

this experience. For many, the idea that God may lead through periods of profound uncertainty, deconstruction, and questioning is foreign andinherently difficult to understand, yet the Biblical narratives are infusedwith individual stories and metaphors which reveal this experience.

Perhaps the central spiritual metaphor which describes liminality is thatof tomb—the space between death and resurrection. Patrick Oliver

18

believes that the motif of death and resurrection or "life-death-life" is thegreatest theme of Christian spirituality. Its ultimate expression is in Jesus'own death and resurrection; how

7ever, it is also a continual emphasis of his

teaching, as illustrated in the need for Nicodemus to be born again (John3:3-4) to enter the Kingdom of God and in Jesus' imitation to deny oneself,take up one's cross daily and follow him (Lw^9:23).

Revealed in Anne's story is the central purpose of the tomb experience—the need to die to the present sense of self, to old ways of being anddoing. This process, never easy or painless, often involves a deep sense of suffering and grief as one disidentifies "with the old and acknowledges thatthe past really has passed."

1QYet a person's journey through suffering and

death, and waiting through the long nights of the tomb can be jo ined with

the great story of the Christian faith—the paschal mystery. Knowing thatJesus walked through his own Gethsemane and crucifixion, offers comfortto those experiencing their own dark night of the soul and places of lossand suffering.

20St. Paul reflects this in his desire "to know

7Christ...and the

fellowship of his sharing in sufferings becoming like him in his death"(Philippians 3:10). Significantly, the Christian Scriptures also suggest that

Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection were personally transformationalfor him (Hebrews 2:10).

Rohr21

suggests that rather than \iewing the brokenness and pain that

accompaniesliminality

as unwelcome intrusions, staying with the suffering"as long as you can and by whatever means possible" will faithfully lead tothe resurrection and transformation that lies beyond the tomb. Foralthough the dark nights that accompany liminality feel like dying, ultimately it is not death. As Keating

22explains, liminality contains the promise of

new7

life and of liberation from the false self and, as seen in Anne's story7, it

facilitates a movement away from old and ascendant ways of being anddoing towards some further sense of the "true self."

23

A second scriptural metaphor, which captures something of the realityof liminality, is that of wilderness. Well-known examples in the Jewish Scrip

tures include Moses' forty years tending sheep before Yahweh's call to liberate His people from slavery* (Exodus 3); the Israelites' flight from Egypt

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disappeared into Arabia for three years following his conversion on theroad to Damascus (Galatians 1:15-18).

It is important to understand the w7ork of God during wilderness. In thenarratives of the Israelites and their journey through wilderness, twoprominent themes emerge. The first relates to the sense of needing to

leave behind the comforts and yet slavery- of Egypt for the discomfort, yetfreedom of being led by Yahweh. Time and again, the Israelite nation whenfaced by difficulties or hardship, cried out for the certainty of Egypt (e.g., Numbers 11:4-6), only to be reminded by God of their need to find theirsecurity primarily in Him. Secondly, it was in the wilderness that the people of Israel w7ere given the opportunity to experience the power and presence of God first-hand, as illustrated through His continual presence byfire and by cloud (Numbers 14:14). Similarly, wiien Jesus w

7as called by the

Spirit into the wilderness following his baptism, he was confronted with the

temptation to abandon his trust in the Father. Nouwen

24

believes that Jesus'three temptations represent the three great potential vulnerabilities of those who would truly follow

7God: the need to be relevant; the need to be

significant; and the need to be powerful. Significantly, as God was presentwith the Israelites in Sinai (Exodus 40:36-38), so too was Jesus comforted bythe Father's angels during his forty days and nights of dislocation (Mark 1:9-l 1 ). Thus it w7as in the wilderness that both the people of Israel andJesus faced a time wiien physical comfort and familiarity w

rere suspended

and the need and opportunity7

to more deeply trust God to meet all needsfor security and provision were greatly heightened.

Dumm25 believes that this suspension of the familiar and the paradoxical companionship of God in new

Tand unforseen ways is a central facet of

the invitation to journey through wilderness. He believes that it isinevitable that one wTho accepts this invitation must leave the familiar andknowTi to experience a time of transition characterized by uncertainty andunfamiliarity. The purpose of such a time therefore is to give the spiritualpilgrim the opportunity to have previous patterns of attitude and actiondeconstructed and disempow7ered so that one can more truly come to findGod as the true and ultimate source of security and life.

In Anne's story7, the metaphor of wilderness seems to be one of themajor images that God used to help her make sense of her experience. Asshe describes so clearly, "The landscape suddenly shifted, as I was thrustinto a completely unfamiliar space, which could only be likened to wandering in a wilderness. God's voice could not be heard, Scripture was as dust,compassion could not be found..." and yet paradoxically it was in this placeof unfamiliarity and discomfort that Anne also knew the Father's love andpresence in a new way, "As I sat or walked in silence and solitude, it was asif my whole being experienced new levels of knowing, seeing, being, and

belonging."The third and final biblical metaphor, which speaks of liminality, is that

7



forter" declaring judgement or prescribing simplistic spiritual solutions inthe midst of the other's profound desolation. Such an approach may arisefrom fear or even from an inner self-righteousness. Fear unconsciously propels one towards fixing what is wrong rather than genuinely coming besideand holding the other's mystery

7. Fear's impetus may come from the avoid

ance of confronting one's own unacknowledged drive towards ascendancy.Self-righteousness is often but the reverse image of fear. It also unconsciously can drive one towards forcibly confronting the journeyer, which inreality may only be a defensive stance to protect one's own false constructsof self.

Nouwen2*

1with his concept of the "Wounded Healer" would suggest that

the way of Christ is far more challenging and personally confronting thanfear-driven or self-righteous responses. What the journeyer in liminalitymost needs is for companions on the way to hold normalcy for them. Therewere two types of companions in Anne's story7: those who "responded as if all w7as normal" and those, who having experienced the fracture of liminal-ity for themselves, "gently and appropriately brought solace through bearing witness to the constancy of God's love by listening and trying to makemeaning of liminal reality." Both were gift to her. Herein lies the key to truecompanionship in liminality. Stay with the person. Don't withdraw-. Do notbe afraid, for the constancy of another's presence may powerfully mediatethe deeper reality of God's faithful presence in the midst of His apparenthiddenness.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the reality of God's transforming grace in the in-betweenplace is that, while liminality is potentially frightening, if one traverses itslandscape and gently holds to the Real, it brings incredible freedom,peace, and relief. For the journeyer, it is possible to plumb depths of God'sgrace that were never previously conceived and to receive the gift, as Francis of Assis did, of being able to experience an "inner life where all shadow7,mystery and paradox is confronted, accepted and forgiven."

30%

Endnotes1. Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer (New York, NY:The Crossroad Publishing Co., 1999), p. 132.

2. Rohr, Everything Belongs, p. 132.

3. Paul Tournier, A Place for You (New York, NY: Harper 8c Row, 1968), p. 163.

4. Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant

Society (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), p. 20.

5. Demetrius Dumm, Flowers in the Desert: A Spirituality of the Bible (New York, NY:Paulist Press, 1987), pp. 59-62.

6 Rohr Everything Belongs p 132



11. Richard Rohr, Hope Against Darkness: The Transforming Vision of Saint Francis in an

Age of Anxiety (Cincinnati, OH : St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2001), p. 34.

12. Parker Palmer, ThePromise of Paradox: A Celebration of Contradictions in the Chris

tian Life (Washington, DC: The Servant Leadership School, 1993), p. 17.

13. Dumm, Flowers in the Desert.

14. Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life (New York,

NY: Image Books, 1975).

15. Jean Yanier, Jesus the Gift of Love (S\dney, NSW: Hodder and Stoughton, 1988).

16. Pennington, True Self/False Self p. 45.

17. Julian of Norwich. Enfolded in Love: Daily Reading withJulian of Norwich (London:

Darton, Longman 8c Todd, 1980), p. viii.

18. Patrick Oliver, "Great Themes of the Christian Faith," in THE02I2: Australian

Spirituality, class lecture, Australian Catholic University. July 32, 2003.

19. Patrick Oliver, Drinking Deeply: Learning to Listen to the Song of Your Soul (Brisbane,

Qld: P. Oliver, self published, 1999), p. 61.

20. Ire ne Alexander, F. Mackay, J. Meteyard, D. O'Hara, 8c C. Brow-η, "Liminal Spaceand Transitions in the Journev," in Conversations: A Forum for Authentic Transforma

tion, 2004, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 19-20.

21. Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs, p. 132.

22. Thomas Keating, The Better Part: Stages of Contemplative Living (New York, NY:

Continuum, 2000), p. 24.

23. Pennington, True Self/False Self p. 45.

24. Henri Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership (London:

Darton, Longman & Todd, 1989), pp. 15, 35, 55.

25. Dumm, Rowers in the Desert, pp. 58-59.

26. Michael Goonan, Community of Exiles: Exploring Australian Spirituality (Home- bush, NSW: St. Paul Publications, 1996), pp. 35-37.

27. Edith Stein, "Letter 117," in Thoughts of Edith Stein (Eugene, OR: Carmel of

Maria Regina), p. 11.

28. Janet Ruffing. Spiritual Direction: Beyond the Beginnings (London: St. Pauls Pub

lishing, 2000), pp. 156-161.

29. Henri Nouwen, The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society (London:

Darton, Longman 8c Todd, 1979), pp. 87-88.

30. Rohr, Hope Against Darkness, p. 4.



^ s

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