Lent Gen 15:5-12, 17-18, Phil 3:17-4:1, Luke 9:28-36
Sacred thresholds seem to me to be somewhat of a quandary?
Oxford dictionary defines thresholds as “Limits of counsciousness, limit below which a stimulus ceased to be perceptible”.
How open are we at these entry points to the Spirit?
How open are we to perceiving and receiving spiritual encounters?
Do our thresholds protect the sacred within or defend against the unknown transcendent “Other”?
Have our thresholds in fact become strongholds of the mind barring our way to the unseen?
Daniel O’Leary reminds us: ” Do we forget that our senses are ‘the threshold of our soul’? “Listen, my child,” St Benedict wrote at the beginning of his Rule, “with the ear of your heart.”
Admitting the Spirit within every moment of our lives, is opening the portal of our senses to acknowledge the faith we profess. It is opening and trusting the sensing of our heart to discern the Divine in all things.
Faith is the intentional act of seeking to find the Presence. The intent of the seeker is to live in the Presence of the Spirit expecting and acknowledging the reality of the realm in the Spirit.
It is in opening the thresholds that we can behold things so differently. The cosmic connections, the mystical insight and understandings arise from a sensitive heart yielding to Truth beyond our human limits, which convicts and enlivens us.
Contemplative prayer enables us to grow in the practice of living in the Presence.
Asking questions is an important part of any spiritual journey. It helps us clarify our direction and seek the path which is most relevant to us. As we listen to questions which arise in our hearts we take courage to step into the unknown. Questions open us to the unknown. Let us ask and receive, seek and find.
Giving voice to your questions is letting the light shine on your darkness.
Suggested resources may include – Weekly reflections and interviews with writer, spiritual director and priest Fr. Daniel O’Leary’s website Begin with the Heart – http://djoleary.com/pages/weekly.htm
Author – of “Thresholds of the Soul” and “Windows of Wonder”.
Creative Spiritual Directions 