“Liminal” is a word that is not used very frequently in most of our vocabularies, but it has never been more relevant in so many aspects of our lives than right now. I gave a sermon on “liminality” a few weeks ago, but didn’t use that word. Can you guess? It was the sermon when I talked about molting of insects and crustaceans. The time in their life with they shed their exoskeleton and are at their most vulnerable. They don’t have what once gave them shelter and protection and enabled them to move and they haven’t yet developed their new exterior. They are in a “liminal” time.
If you need a more specific definition, try the following. A liminal time is “…one thing has ended and a new thing has yet to begin.” That definition comes from the book I am about to finish titled, “How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You are Going: Leading in a Liminal Season” by Susan Beaumont.
“Liminal” seems fitting for today, doesn’t it? Everywhere we look it seems like one thing has ended but a new thing hasn’t begun. We are in the middle of a pandemic and our old way of life has ended and we are waiting for a vaccine for it to start again, but we are unsure of what will be the same and what will be different. If you are a parent, it can be a permanent time of liminality as you try to raise kids. They are always in the process of becoming something new and never exactly who they used to be. Churches are in this place also. We once were in the middle of society as people looked to us for guidance and planned life around us. Now, we have been moved to the fringe as people are busy and don’t always have time for worship, or Bible Study and many people in society see us as irrelevant. Church is no longer the center and we aren’t sure where we fit in right now. All of this can be exhausting!
It is very common for institutions and people who are in the midst of liminality, (in the process of becoming something new and don’t know yet what that will be) to reverse course and want to return to what once was. When the future is uncertain, fear can become powerful and certainty can be appealing. We are not people who are comfortable being uncomfortable. We want to move our way through it fast without doing the proper work to understand what led ourselves to be in this place or the proper work that will help move us out of it. We move through it quickly because we feel we are in danger and if action isn’t taken quickly, we may not survive. We fear we are like the lobster or crab that has shedded its exoskeleton and is vulnerable to predators who will devour it during the time it is rendered defenseless.
The reality is, during a liminal time, opportunity abounds, if we are willing to sit in the discomfort. Discernment, the revealing and dreaming up of new ideas and directions, happen during this time if we give them time to develop. God is not far off, but close and we trust the Holy Spirit is alive and kicking during times of liminality. We are not like the lobster or crab that will simply grow a bigger shell, in the same design as the one they just got rid of. Instead, we have feelings and thoughts and consciousness and prayers to help decide what will come next and what it will look like.
Perhaps, pray this prayer for your life, Holy Trinity and the world.
Creator of all things,
Throughout history, you have always been present during liminal times.
In times of doubt, you were there.
In times of uncertainty, you were there.
In times of fear, you were there.
Today, when we are feeling all of these things again, we boldly and humbly ask you to be with us again.
We don’t want to return to the past, instead
Send your Spirit to lead us into your future.
A future of which we have doubt, uncertainty and fear.
But a future that also contains joy, and love and hope.
Give us your presence to sit in the discomfort of the day and to discern your will for tomorrow.
Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Tim