O’Donohue understood blessings as bridges between the inner and outer worlds, moments that help us hold what might seem ordinary as sacred. A true blessing, he wrote, “breaks down the barriers between people and is the ultimate form of intimacy. It changes the environment around us and opens new possibilities of connection, healing, and transformation.”

My beloved mentor, Linda Lantieri, introduced me to this book years ago, and it became woven into the culture of Transformative Educational Leadership (TEL). Whenever we welcomed someone new to our team, we shared the Blessing for a New Position in a contemplative way. This simple ritual helped us pause and recognize that every new beginning is holy, a way of bringing each person into a field of sacred space that we hoped to cultivate together.

As I revisited the book this week, I came across O’Donohue’s writings on thresholds, and they struck me deep in my heart. His words gave language to the space I feel I’m living in right now, and perhaps you are too. There’s something about this season that feels like standing at a living frontier, what O’Donohue calls “the threshold.”

He reminds us that a threshold isn’t merely a boundary or an edge; it’s a sacred meeting place between two worlds, where the known and the unknown mingle. 

“A threshold is not a simple boundary; it is a frontier that divides two different territories, rhythms, and atmospheres.” - John O’Donohue

Transitions are not pauses between destinations but invitations to awaken. He counsels us to recognize such crossings as holy moments: “It is wise in your own life to recognize and acknowledge the key thresholds: to take your time; to feel all the varieties of presence that accrue there; to listen inward with complete attention until you hear the inner voice calling you forward.”

As my family and I continue to root ourselves at Deer Park, I’m trying to honor what’s being threshed away so that something essential can emerge. The word threshold comes from threshing, to separate grain from husk. Crossing a threshold often means letting go of identities, habits, and assumptions that no longer serve what’s coming alive in us. This shedding can feel like loss, but it’s also the necessary sifting that reveals what’s true. It’s not easy. Yet when we bless what is shifting, we remember that transition itself is sacred.

Perhaps you, too, are standing at a threshold. If so, I offer gentle questions inspired by O’Donohue as companions for your journey:

• At which threshold am I, and are we, now standing?
• What am I, and are we,  leaving behind?
• Where am I, and are we, being called to go?
• What will help me, and us, to cross?

You don’t need to know the answers right now. I certainly don’t have them. I'm trusting in simply holding the questions close, and letting the threshold do its holy work.

With tenderness and trust in the unfolding,