It’s a wrap. Almost. December 31 to January 1 – the annual and inevitable threshold, the measurement of time witnessed by days, weeks and months throughout an entire year. Sometimes we arrive at this threshold, surprised, as if it is something new to be encountered. Sometimes we anticipate crossing into the new year with a mixture of relief and hope. We are relieved to have the old one done, wrapped up like a regifted holiday present, and hope that life must certainly become easier, or better, or warmer or well fed.
Years ago a friend introduced me to the writings of John O’Donohue and I will be forever grateful. I think I own every one of O’Donohue’s books and find myself constantly revisiting this Irish poet’s Celtic spirituality to sustain and enrich my own. (And if for some reason you don’t know O’Donohue, please dive deeply into the rich stores he has left behind him – perhaps starting with that beautifully poignant interview by Krista Tippett. https://onbeing.org/programs/john-odonohue-the-inner-landscape-of-beauty/)
After listening and reading O’Donohue, I can never again take the word “threshold” lightly. Yes, there is the threshold the carpenter installs in our homes as well as a myriad of objects and structures one must step over to move from one space to another. But, profoundly, we are faced with oh so many thresholds of living, proceeding from one moment to the next, sometimes heralded and sometimes passing in oblivion.
O’Donohue is wedded to the concept of threshold. Taken from his conversation with Tippett: “If you go back to the etymology of the word ‘threshold,’ it comes from ‘threshing,’ which is to separate the grain from the husk. So the threshold, in a way, is a place where you move into more critical and challenging and worthy fullness… the given world that we think is there and the solid ground we are on is so tentative. And a threshold is a line which separates two territories of spirit, and very often how we cross is the key thing.”
O’Donohue also says that it is important to recognize and acknowledge our personal thresholds and to move forward as we are called to do so, paying exquisite attention.
“To acknowledge and cross a new threshold is always a challenge. It demands courage and also a sense of trust in whatever is emerging.”
Perhaps you notice a collective change in the approach to the holiday season in recent years. In my circle of family, friends, clients, acquaintances and community, I do. Since March 2020 when Covid became a household word and unwanted guest, the concept of connection topped the list of that which is most important. Distant relatives and friends were able to visit face to face with the click of a mouse. Consumerism took a turn away from impulse buying in the checkout aisle to scrolling and searching in the infinite world of the internet. Instant acquisition governed shopping habits as gift cards became the gift of choice. But then, even as the virus kept us largely out of crowded shopping areas, financial insecurity put the brakes on spending for those thoughtful enough to recognize it.
Of course, these trends did not occur everywhere, but I do believe I am correct in saying that more and more of us are cherishing family ties, valuing health and well-being above status as measured by material wealth. In some homes and communities, traditions have been revived and memories dusted off. On occasion perhaps a lavish party might be declined for a quiet evening at home. “Reaching out” for help or to offer care is happening.
So where does that leave us this year as we begin to transition from 2022 to 2023? No, it absolutely does not happen with a simple countdown from 10 to 1 and a Happy New Year! There’s more to the new year’s entrance than that. Do we, as O’Donohue suggests, look ahead, pay attention, truly understand that a significant step is about to be taken? Do we know the layers of meaning, intention and challenge within this threshold? Can we possibly know what might lie ahead? Can we imagine possibilities? Are we willing to experience pain and loss and yet go on? Do we understand that the fabric of life is not smooth, but rather, richly textured and it is up to us how we work with it? Can we promise to use the tool to “Reframe” and look at what lies beyond each threshold, reframed, to something precious – to unlimited opportunity?
As O’Donohue says:
“I would love to live
like a river flows,
carried by the surprise
of its own unfolding.”
In my small world, there is suffering this year. I can only offer compassion to those who have lost loved ones (animal and human), to those struggling with health issues, to those facing scarcity. I see in a friend’s face that she is conflicted and by another’s body language that there is sadness. Is it more pronounced in these years of Covid? Are we more vulnerable?
Perhaps what needs to be done is for each of us to recognize that life as we know it is different, to get ‘back to basics,’ and to offer each other that which might be on the other side of the threshold – hope.
Simplicity is in vogue. So is courage. So is taking time to pause, to breathe, or to step outside. So is saying “I love you.” Have you noticed this? Teens say it to all their friends. I say it to mine. Text messages often include a heart emoji and phone calls often end in “love you!” Maybe that’s where we are headed in the next few weeks as we step over into the year 2023. I would LOVE that, wouldn’t you?
