This reflection on the practice of statio by artist and retreat leader Christine Valters Paintner was recently published in Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditations. We offer her wisdom in a special way as we prepare to enter the “in-between times” after the changes of All Things New are announced and before they are realized:
In the monastic tradition, statio is the practice of stopping one thing before beginning another. It is the acknowledgment that in the space of transition and threshold is a sacred dimension, a holy pause full of possibility. This place between is a place of stillness, where we let go of what came before and prepare ourselves to enter fully into what comes next.
When we pause between activities or spaces or moments in our days, we open ourselves to the possibility of discovering a new kind of presence to the darkness of in-between times. When we rush from one thing to another, we skim over the surface of life, losing the sacred attentiveness that brings forth revelations in the most ordinary of moments.
Statio… opens up a space within for God to work. We can become fully conscious of what we are about to do…
In the days ahead, become aware of all the times you cross a threshold [in time or in space]... Pause at each and offer a short blessing, simply becoming aware of the possibilities alive in the moment. See if the threshold helps call forth the thinness of this moment, making the voice of the divine more accessible.