Liminality

I was a communication major in college, and one of the theories that we learned about was the theory of liminality, or the state of being "betwixt and between", according to Victor Turner. We often talked about how college was a liminal stage, a stage where your life was lived in this artificial environment that would only last for a few years.

More and more, however, I'm realizing that I feel more "in-between" now than I ever did in college. My heart is torn between so many different people and places - my family a few hours north, my job, friends and church here in San Diego, and now Thailand, halfway around the world. I'm done with school, but I don't yet have a family. Wherever I am, I am missing people who are somewhere else. I don't feel settled or like I really belong anywhere.

Life won't stay this way forever, at least I hope it won't. At some point, I have a feeling that everything will settle into more of a routine and there will be a place that is most definitely "home" to me. That said, I think I am realizing that maybe all of life is more liminal than I had ever imagined. Really, for the Christian, our time here is best spent looking forward to our true home with Jesus. Yes, we are here for now and are called to live to the fullest.

But...

But at the same time, while it is possible to feel more or less at home here on this earth depending on circumstances, I think it is my sinful heart telling me that the next stage will satisfy my longings to no longer be in between, to be settled, to belong. There is nothing on this earth that will perfectly fulfill these desires, which means that the desires really aren't about this earth anyway.

They are about Christ. We are hidden with Him in God (Colossians 3), and that is where our true home is (2 Corinthians 5). Until we reach that place, we will always be in a state of liminality, betwixt and between.But that is where the Lord has us, and it is good, because it is in these liminal stages we realize that He is the only who satisfies these desires.

We are restless until we find our rest in Him alone.