Liminality and God
Liminality and you
Liminality and the other.
In parts 2-4 of this series of writings I’m going to speak on relationships and liminal space. First we’ll talk about God, then you, then others.
God and the space that remains.
The universe that we find ourselves in is expanding. Thanks to scientific discoveries involving the Doppler effect, Hubble and redshift, we now know that the space around our planet, our solar system, our galaxy, is getting bigger. As if the universe isn’t big enough… To add even more mystery to the wonder, scientists estimate that we can only detect/see with light (through electromagnetic radiation) 5% of the matter and energy that exists in the universe. Five percent. The rest is invisible/undetectable (gravitational lensing is helping to detect some of the unseen universe, but still the amount that we are not able to know is in the 90-ish% range…). We’re not even touching on the fact that the nearest star (aka the sun) is 93 million miles away from our planet. This all makes me feel like our 2,500 mile move to Hawaii is a minor leap. This is only what’s out there, but what about down there? The ocean is just as mysterious. Actually, it’s interesting how similar they are on the whoa-in-small scale. We have explored less than five percent of the ocean. Five percent. The rest, you could also refer to as “dark matter”. Even with all the species of fish and sea creatures that have been discovered, so much is left to the imagination. With all we know about the planetary system, galaxies, supernovas, and lightyears we still have so much to see and explore. We have so far to go. Just when we think we’ve found something big, we realize how small it all is.
Thoughts on the space between and God.
There’s an ancient story in the book of Genesis involving a man named Jacob, who later has his name changed to “Israel”. This Jacob is apart of a bigger story involving a tribe of people who have, over generations, been interacting with a God that has promised them blessing, land and flourishing. This God is mysterious and distinct from other tribe’s gods in so many ways. What makes these stories with this tribe of people so interesting is not this tribe’s devotion or perfect fidelity to God or ability to completely know God but, instead, this God’s devotion and fidelity and complete knowledge of this tribe. These stories of this tribe in Genesis are written in hindsight while Israel is in Babylon as they remember who God was for them. One of these stories involves Jacob and his dream in a desert. He goes to sleep and has a dream of a ladder reaching from heaven to earth, with angels descending and ascending upon the ladder. When he wakes up he exclaims, “Surely the LORD is in this place and I did not know it!”. This God was with him the entire time. He wakes up from a dream, but he also wakes up to the hidden reality all around him that has been revealed. Heaven and earth, which seemed to be distanced from one another, was bridged by this ladder and became linked and one in the same. The gap was gone. The space was filled and the lines were blurred. Jacob thought he knew (stories of this Yahweh/God/LORD were passed on from generation to generation) but then he realizes he doesn’t know at all. The Mystery is made bigger. Somehow he’s okay with this because in the next scene he makes an altar there and worships God in the only way he knows how. The awe and wonder leads to worship and enjoyment. The space is embraced because Jacob realizes the space between where he thought the Divine existed and where he existed was not opposite or far.
When you think about space, ocean and God.
Are you struck with a childlike wonder and awe when you ponder the mystery of the universe, the oceanic depths and the Divine? Or, are you terrified? There’s a gap/liminal space between you and the universe, you and the ocean and you and God. Thee’s so much to be known still. So much we don’t know. Yet, at the same time there exists a paradox. The universe and ocean and God are so much closer than you’ve ever thought could be possible. There is no gap. You’re in the universe, right here right now. If you’ve ever swam in the ocean, played in the waves… you recognize that you’re only at the edge of the water but at the same time you’re in the ocean. It’s not far, it’s all around you. The writers in the bible call God near us and with us and in us Spirit. Spirit is around you. Spirit is your next breath. And, at the same time, Spirit is outside of you and totally and completely other and foreign. The space between you and God has been bridged a long time ago. In the person of Jesus, the Christ, we are to recognize that God has come near but also that God has been with us the entire time. The paradox of life is that we have all that we could ever want of God yet there is so much Mystery at hand.
Our first inclination is to bridge the gap. To make the space smaller. So we create churches and studies and clubs to exist as gap-shrinkers (thinking that in our gathering the space between God and us gets smaller). These gatherings are helpful and beautiful and I fully support these. I love the church. But we do not gather in church to come close with the Divine. We gather because we already have. We gather to testify and to grow in more awe and wonder as we say, in one voice, “How great the space! How mysterious the Mystery!” without trying to make God more comprehendible or understandable. To remain in the mystery, the gap, the liminal space is to embrace the vastness and greatness of life and, like scientific discoveries that pull us into even more wonder, exclaim together, “We know more than we ever have in the history of the world but now know that we know just the beginning of Life!”
God is bigger and greater than ww ever imagined.
God has always been close and beautiful and loving.
Embrace the space between and the nearness.
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