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.”
The Rev. Richard "Dick" H. Elwood
Pastoral Associate
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