Photo of the grounds of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati motherhouse by Sister Marty Dermody, SC

Reflection by Sister Mary Ann Connolly, SC

Every morning and evening, I have the luxury of connecting with a meditation group that helps me during this time of great sadness with the devastation of the coronavirus. These video meetings are the bookends of my days, connecting me deeply with the heroes who serve selflessly, families and friends who grieve the loss of loved ones, and those in between who cope with the anxiety and fear that a pandemic elicits. This morning, my prayer transported me back to a workshop I took a few years ago, where I first learned about liminal space. The workshop took place shortly after I lost my dear friend to Alzheimer’s disease after a very long and difficult journey. It was at that workshop that I realized that since her loss, I had been living in liminal space.

This morning at prayer, I became aware that this is the space our entire world is living in right now. Liminal space is a transformative space, a space between one point in time and another. The workshop I attended presented an image of a girl who jumped from one cliff, suspended in mid-air, waiting to land on the other side. In liminal space, there is no going back, only forward. It is an in-between space, often scary, not sure when, where, or how you will land. This image stayed with me, reminding me that this space is where God gets to hold us up, assuring us that we will again, one day, land and find a new normal.

I pray for all of us, that we can allow God to hold us in that space, not only sad and fearful… not only grieving the loss of so much, but united with the whole world community now suspended in this liminal space together.

We will eventually land again, never able to return to that which we left behind, but always ready to forge ahead in love… preparing for a new and better normal… a world kinder and more accepting of all… a world where we have awakened to all that the earth offers us, and our responsibility to her… a world steeped in gratitude to God who walks with us into a second chance!

Sister Mary Ann Connolly, SC