Crossing A Threshold
I have recently been in the hospital. Surgery was required on the heel of my foot where a bad sore had emerged along with the possibility of severe infection. Surgery went well and the prospect of infection was dealt with through a great deal of strong medicine.
I spent 10 days in the hospital and 15 days in a facility with skilled nursing. I had 25 days with a great deal of time to think and reflect. During this time, I missed Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter.
I asked myself, at this time in my life, what am I leaving? Where am I about to enter? What is preventing me from crossing my next threshold? (A threshold is a frontier that divides two different experiences.)
To acknowledge and cross a new threshold is always a challenge. It calls for courage and also a sense of trust in whatever is emerging. This becomes essential when a threshold opens suddenly and there is no time to prepare — as it did for me. You look back at the life you have lived — even up to a few days or hours before — and it suddenly seems so far away. Everything has changed.
In my last “Daily Word,” I quoted John O’Donohue from his book, “To Bless the Space Between Us.” I conclude my thoughts today with another quote from him:
“Though we know one another’s names and recognize one another’s faces, we never know what destiny shapes each life. However, that we are here is a huge affirmation; somehow life needed us and wanted us to be. To sense and trust that can pen a vast spring within the heart. It can free us into a natural courage that casts out fear and opens up our lives. No threshold need be a threat, but rather an invitation and a promise. Whatever comes, the great sacrament of life will remain faithful to us, blessing us always with visible signs of invisible grace. We merely need to trust.”
