The Third Day

One of the emphases of Celtic spirituality is its tradition of thresholds.  This stream of spirituality holds that there is a thin veil between here and there.  The world of the Celtic saint was one where the temporal and the eternal were mingled together in such a way that the saints of earth were often aware of the saints of heaven among them.  Some places were like thresholds where one could almost stand with one foot in this world and the other in eternity.  Using more modern language and more contemporary images might cause us to envision a parallel universe.  One is seen and one is unseen.    

Such a threshold might be experienced at the place where the water of the ocean interacts with sandy shoreline, or a place where meadow disappears at the edge of a forest, or even at a common every day door frame which separates the interior of the home from the exterior world around it.  In some of those threshold places, saints might build hermitages, pilgrims might find new homes, and sacred places of worship might be built.  More than we are in our present day spiritual communities, these ancient saints seemed to be aware of the eternal world which overshadows this one.  

Before we decide such sounds a bit too pagan or "hokey pokey," let us remember the creeds we profess which speak of the communion of the saints, or Hebrews 12:1 which says that "we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,"  or the Scriptural accounts of angels breaking into our world with a word from the Lord such as happened to Mary, or the feelings of awareness of something or someone not seen when we gather around the Table on All Saints Sunday.  There are thresholds in our midst, too.  Maybe we call them something different than did the ancient saints, but there can be no doubt that those who have eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart that is open will know what it is to walk alongside of holy mystery here on earth.

 

 

Moments of going and coming were noteworthy moments and prayers of blessings would often be offered for those who were departing the security of home for a journey to another place.