Every Moment a Threshold
What possibilities await if we recognize that every moment is a new chance to take a journey?
As I write this, I'm packing for an early morning flight to Chicago, where I'll attend the commencement of my alma mater, Meadville Lombard Theological School, and see a Beloved graduate with their Master of Divinity. It couldn’t have come at a more meaningful time because it was ten years ago that I was in that commencement, being recognized for the hard work I’d put into my ministry training, unsure what was ahead of me but excited nonetheless.
The subsequent decade has been a whirlwind of sorts, testing and trying me and making me a better minister than I was when Rev. Dr. Lee Barker, then-president of my seminary, handed me my diploma. And I won’t pretend that there haven’t been times when I felt like quitting this profession altogether. But I’m still here and determined to celebrate with joy the twentieth anniversary of my commencement in another decade.
What I do recognize is the way this was a threshold for me: an opening to a new path for me. I can’t speak for my fellow graduates, but I felt like I was on top of the world that day, and, while one path was coming to an end, beyond it was a new journey for me to take.
Since then, there have been many such thresholds, and thresholds within thresholds: new relationships; the beginning and ending of ministries; moves to different cities and states; the adoption and passing of companion animals; continuing education that opened up even more possibilities to me.
When I look at my life, it seems like the thresholds are never-ending.
Indeed, I’ve come to believe that maybe every moment offers a threshold, an opportunity to move into something new and life-affirming. Sometimes these thresholds are difficult to see, but, when discovered, they have the potential to shake the very foundations of life.
When looked at this way, even times that seem difficult or dangerous can be opportunities to a new life-giving way of being. I’m not a fan of telling people that there’s a purpose in everything that happens to us, but I do believe that I can take even the worst of my experiences and craft meaning out of them, even if it’s just that part of life sucked and I want to prevent it from happening to anyone else.
Jada Pinkett Smith once said, “I have a thing for doors. I always think of them as a threshold to something new.” As you’re looking at the doors that are opening and closing in your life, what are they telling you? Is there a way that is just beyond the threshold, offering new life and new possibilities?