When thinking about thresholds we usually consider them as a place where we need to get though in order to move or transition from one place to a different place, and as such thresholds are often identified as barriers or points of opportunity. While reflecting on this, Scott Tayler goes a bit further and suggests we can also see thresholds as an invitation to stop and pause and that we can use thresholds as a resting place –a place for noticing and listening.

When thinking about thresholds we usually consider them as a place where we need to get though in order to move or transition from one place to a different place, and as such thresholds are often identified as barriers or points of opportunity. While reflecting on this, Scott Tayler goes a bit further and suggests we can also see thresholds as an invitation to stop and pause and that we can use thresholds as a resting place –a place for noticing and listening.The Irish poet and philosopher, John O’Donohue writes: A threshold is not a simple boundary; it is a frontier that divides two different territories, rhythms, and atmospheres. Indeed, it is a lovely testimony to the fullness and integrity of an experience of a stage of life that it intensifies toward the end into a real frontier that cannot be crossed without the heart being passionately engaged and woken up. At this threshold,a great complexity of emotion comes alive: confusion,fear, excitement, sadness, hope.

The American preacher and author, Peter Gomes shares: There is in Celtic mythology the notion of ‘thin places’ in the universe where the visible and the invisible world come into their closest proximity…Mountains and rivers are particularly favored as thin places marking invariably as they do, the horizontal and perpendicular frontiers. But perhaps the ultimate of these thin places in the human condition are the experiences people are likely to have as they encounter suffering, joy, and mystery.

The May Soul Matters packets offer materials to explore the meaning and possibilities of “thresholds” –to reflect on how we can experience it in our lives and how it is a part of sharing in community. We use this theme for worship and for faith formation in our RE program and chalice circles. The Soul Matters resource packet can be accessed here. For now there are no printed copies to hand out but if you are receiving this online, we’re hoping you can read or download the packet from the link….or maybe print out at home.

May we all be sheltered in the heart of community,

M. E. Tanabe