Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Thesholds and openings are places of soul care

In today's blog post, The Entry Point", Unity minister Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham quotes Thomas Moore in a  Parabola Spring 2000 article about liminal space. In the piece "Neither Here Nor There", Moore describes a threshold experience:
“Standing in a doorway you are forced into the imagination, wondering what you will find on the other side. It is a place full of expectant fantasy.” 
According to Rowbotham, Moore continues his description of transitional space:
"In their narrow confines you may find fantasy, memory, dream, anxiety, miracle, intuition, and magic. These are the means by which the deep soul prospers – neither in life nor entirely out of life. This is a good place from which to make a decision and get a hunch. It is the true home of creativity. It is also the claustrophobic place of greatest fear. Anything of moment takes place in these interstices – in the tunnels and passages and waiting periods. They are indispensable and yet must be kept tangential."
Rowbotham shares verses from the Bible echoing this emphasis on doorways before recommending, "...  make a habit of taking a little time daily, alone in the quiet place of your heart, in communion with your Source, so that the illumination and guidance of the Holy Spirit may become alive and active in your life. Then go about your daily work, ever open to divine guidance, trusting it and resting in it, strengthened and sustained by its power." Thomas Moore also suggests spending time alone in silence as care of the soul.