Last summer, at the end of Move In Day at my son's university, the families were invited to a candlelight service. It was a beautiful time of worship, encouragement, and prayer for the room full of first year students and their very emotional parents.
One of the speakers mentioned that this time we were experiencing, as students and parents, was what could be described as a "liminal space".
Liminal space is defined as "the uncertain transition between where you've been and where you're going physically, emotionally, or metaphorically."*
It means to be on the verge of something new but not quite there.
It's a space my husband and I find ourselves in now. We're being called out of a place that, for almost 25 years, has been home to us. A place of comfort and refuge, joy and friendship. A place we deeply invested ourselves in for the love of God and people.
And now we find ourselves on the verge of something new. But we're not quite there. Yet.
It's an uncomfortable and emotional place. As of right now, there is no next. There is only this calling out. So what do we do in this awkward holding pattern?
In the Old Testament, Abraham had his liminal space as God commanded him to "Go.." (Genesis 12).
In the New Testament, the disciples head into another kind of liminal space when Jesus invites them to "Follow Me..." (Matthew 4)
No maps. No charts. Just the firm but peaceful voice of God calling, leading, and guiding toward the unseen next. And that's more than enough for now. So we rest and wait.
"Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;..." (Psalm 25:3)
"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." (Isaiah 26:3)
