Walking a Trail of Beauty

When I told a friend about my recent hospital stay, she said, “You had a liminal experience!” She was right.

By “liminal” she meant a boundary experience. I entered the emergency room between life and death. I was vulnerable. My life was in someone else’s hands. In a spiritual sense, I was between heaven and earth. In the Celtic tradition “liminal” is often described as a “thin place” – a place of encounter with God.

“Liminal experiences” are often transformative. Mine was. And many of you may have had similar experiences. I can’t remember much about the first couple of days. I remember arriving at the ER in a wheelchair. And then I remember “waking up” tethered to a hospital bed, attached by IV lines, heart monitor, and oxygen. When I opened my eyes, I had only one view, toward a window.

My first thought was gratitude for those medical professionals who knew how to care for me with skill and compassion. They preserved my life through that liminal experience. I felt my wife, Diane’s, constant loving presence. And then friends and family began to arrive, uplifting me. My window filled with flowers. I began to notice the changing colors and clouds in the sky behind the flowers.

I felt enlivened by an awareness of beauty. Beauty fills my life: the beauty of those trained to care for others, the beauty of loving companionship, the beauty of friendships, the beauty on display in the ever-changing natural world. In beauty God speaks to me.

A favorite Navajo prayer comes to mind.
“Now talking God . . .
Beauty is before me and beauty is behind me . . .
I am surrounded by it.
I am immersed in it.
In my youth I am aware of it.
And in old age I shall walk quietly the beautiful trail.”

Life is beautiful. And in that beauty, I discover God’s presence. I walk with beauty.

Pastor Bill