August is a month of in-between. Summer is waning and autumn has not yet arrived. This month, the invitation is to take pause to contemplate the myriad forms of Devotion, one of four alchemical chambers of Belle Coeur spirituality. Devotion can be expressed reflectively, creatively, and sacredly. Devotion is the sacred practice of expressing what is often inexpressible. It is a practice (a living prayer) inspired by passionate love, resonance, and/or longing.
When I think of this month of in-between from a devotional perspective, I am reminded of the term, limbo, used by medieval scribes to designate the spacious margins (liminal spaces) on the pages of illuminated manuscripts. In contemporary times, the concept of “being in limbo” holds negative connotations associated with waiting for something to happen or experiencing indecisiveness.
I welcome the devotional practice of being in liminal space, the in-between, of being in limbo as August begins. The intention is to practice devotion to an extended pause, to rest in stillness and unknowing within the Divine Presence. Limbo, from this perspective, is paradoxical. Within the unknowing there is a generative stirring of things to come.
Summer is waning and autumn has not yet arrived. I cross the threshold to devote myself to the practice and prayer of living in limbo, open to the Mystery, as I await God’s guidance within August’s liminal space.
- How do you experience a time of “in-between?”
- When you imagine the sacred practice of Devotion, what arises for you?
- How will you prepare inwardly for the coming season of autumn?
- What is your devotional prayer as summer wanes?
GO DEEPER
If you’d like to explore the sacred practice of Devotion, Belle Coeur’s Seven Sacred Practices for a Recollected Life offers insight and inspiration to be studied at your own page.