Leeana Tankersley

Every Wall Becomes a Door

by | Apr 23, 2018 | Blog | 1 comment

If you’ve read Begin Again, you might have seen the beautiful poem by Fr. Francis Dorrf that I chose for the epigraph of the book.

It reads:

I’ll know I’ve been raised from the dead

When everything becomes a door—

Every brick wall,

Every dead end,

Every Judas friend,

Everything we see and smell and taste,

Everything we think and feel and are,

Every mountain top and valley bottom,

Every birth and every death,

Every joy and every pain,

Every ecstasy and infidelity,

When every single thing

Becomes a door

That opens to eternity

And we pass through

As we could never do

Before. 

And then we’ll wonder why

We’ve spent so many years

Just stopping at these doors;

Why we’ve always pulled up short,

And turned around,

And walked away,

Instead of passing through.

-Fr. Francis Dorrf, 

This poem — this idea that sometimes a wall is a door, sometimes an ending can be a beginning — has been profoundly important to me in the last year. I wanted to make sure you all had these words, could put them in a safe place, and could access them whenever you needed hope and perspective and possibility.

If you are facing a wall in your life, may God, in his great grace, show you how that wall might actually be a door. Is he reaching toward you, inviting you to cross a threshold? If so, you may be scared. That’s OK. Remember what we’ve learned? That “scared” and “sacred” are practically the same word on first glance. Is it possible that when we are at our most scared, we just might be on sacred ground?

I’d love to hear how God could be transforming the wall in your life into a door. Share in the comments below or leave a note on my Instagram (@lmtankersley) or FB post (@tankersleyleeana).

Love upon love,

Leeana

***

If you would like to read through and discuss my new book, Begin Again, with a group, you can download the 6-week group discussion guide here.

1 Comment

  1. Elle
    Elle on April 25, 2018 at 2:57 pm

    Thank you, Leeana. I’ve been in a tough place with a Judas-friend lately and this is just what I needed to read. I’m grateful for your sharing.

    Reply

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