On The Threshold: Home, Hardwood, and Holiness

by Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew

"A tremendously authentic and beautifully written book!" --Paulette Bates Alden, author of Crossing the Moon
For readers of Kathleen Norris and Annie Dillard, Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew's On The Threshold is an intimate and unabashed portrait of the spiritual life. Drawing from the physical and spiritual terrain that she has inhabited throughout her life--predominantly around her home in Minneapolis, MN--the author leads the reader on the quest to feel at home with one's self and one's beliefs.
With honesty, subtlety, and none of the spiritual platitudes that encumber many faith narratives, Andrew's meditations turn to the details of household maintenance--the cluttered pantry, the loose-screened porch, the dim bedroom--and neighborly relations to examine the sometimes empty, sometimes exuberant seasons of the spiritual life.  Occasionally whimsical, sometimes awed, always probing, these reflections model for us the possibility of leading a contemplative life in contemporary society.

Genres: Memoir, Spirituality, Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published April 12, 2005

About the author

Hello, fellow readers! I'm using Goodreads to track my reading, to find like-minded book-lovers who want to share titles, and to connect with readers of my books. Feel free to follow my reviews or become a virtual friend.

As a writer, I'm passionate about creating stories that nourish the soul. I love exploring how faith functions, both inside and outside of religious traditions, and depicting the life of the Spirit at our culture's margins.

Reviews

[Brian Want · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.75 stars.) I seek out slice-of-life / sense-of-life essays like these, wherein a mostly ordinary person is slowly resolving themselves and just being thoughtful, vulnerable, probing, and patient with their progress. Rooted in her brand of Midwestern urban living, this author uses her modest new home to “frame” (sorry) her self-exploration. In pondering her basement, her bedroom, her porch, her neighborhood, she blends private moments of reckoning with discussions of community and connection. This is predictably mottled with memories of her youth (in Tarrytown, NY) as well as her stretching toward spiritual meaning.

Irreligious potential readers should not be put off by the word “holiness” in the subtitle; this is a hippie-ish holiness as comfortable with yoga and Buddhist thought as with Methodist churchgoing. Now, I lived only briefly in Minneapolis, but I was there long enough to place this author as something of a common type: well-educated, Gen X, non-heterosexual white woman who is nominally Christian but broad-minded and activist-oriented. There are some moments where she’s really reaching to make metaphors happen and some moments where her socio-political leanings get a little lecture-y. But the bulk of the pieces are about processing experience and more fully inhabiting herself as she inhabits her house. And it’s those quotidian reflections, where self meets surroundings, that I find soothing and space-giving as I take stock of my own life.

This book was mostly composed in the late 90s and early aughts and published when the author was in the thick of adulthood but not quite middle-aged yet. I am curious what pathways her life has since taken.

[Tessa]

There is nothing wrong with this book. It says some lovely things. But I’ve given it 2 tries and it just isn’t grabbing me enough to justify continuing.

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a series of reflective essays, many centered on small moments at her home in South Minneapolis: encounters with neighbors, fixing windows or doors, waking up in various moods, remembering her childhood home. Some are about her spiritual journey: periods of depression and despair, her little church with its strengths and weaknesses; moments of insight and closeness to God and the holy. One of the last essays is about how her lover Emily came into her life, tying in years of therapy to unravel old patterns and fears.

Throughout the book, I felt a certain distance from being aware of her “writerly” approach. Often, as an essay started, I thought, ‘ah, here she is trying to make meaning because she’s at her desk and is determined to write about something.” The writing sometimes seemed forced. But then would come a very interesting sentence or thought (on daffodils: “hope for that burst of earthbound sunshine sustains me through the winter”) and I’d warm up to the essay. I underlined a lot, posted notes at the end of the chapters, and, finally, began to look forward to the morning reading.

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

A small masterpiece, actually! The PW review notes, "Adroitly weaving story, description, and reflection, these introspective essays will appeal to those who savor language and recognize the sacred at the heart of everyday experience." What gets me the lack of ego present in the essays. Even though it's about her, it's not about her imagined self or just the glorious bits, and the author never sounds whiny, self-pitying, or self-satisfied. Andrews writes WELL, really conveying her simple experiences and memories (gardening, swimming in a lake, the day her grandfather died--BUNCHES of things). She invokes saints and mystics and their wisdom. She writes critically but with affection about her church and fellow congregants. It's all real! And there's this sweet openness to the divine in every moment, each beautiful sensation and flawed person. You end up feeling happily reassured that "all is Brahma."

[Patricia Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed the collection of essays (disclosure: I took a workshop with Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew in Key West and highly recommend her as a teacher too) gathered together in ON THE THRESHOLD. The writing here is everything I love about nonfiction -- personal yet transcendent, taking us beyond the author's singular experiences to larger truths. Most of the essays deal with the ideas of creating home and community and more specifically, creating home and community as spiritual practice. What I loved the most about this book was that it confirmed my own ideas about God -- about finding the Divine in our daily lives and in our creative work. The essays are thoughtful, meditative and also enjoyable for the stories they tell, the glimpses into Andrew's life story, and for writers, an affirmation of the richness of our lives as material worth mining.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This memoir is written in short chapters the sometimes connect theme-wise and sometimes jump around. What I noticed was that there were chapters that I really enjoyed and others that didn't connect with me much. It is a series of thoughts on nature, creating a home and finding your faith and community. Was I glad I read it? Yes. Was I ready to wrap it up at the end? Yes. I wish that there had been a more continuous thread throughout the book, maybe that would have kept me better engaged.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elizabeth Andrew is a good writer. I enjoyed many of these essays because the thoughts of home, nature, religion resonated with me. I did find the book somewhat disjointed. I think it is better read a bit at a time rather than all in one sitting. I am impressed that Andrew was willing to share her thoughts about her love life. I would have had trouble being that honest.

I am looking forward to Andrew's next book. I bet it will be even better.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Local Minneapolis writer and writing instructor at the Loft, where I took a class by her and now am enjoying her writing!

[Deborah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the essays I read with mild interest. Some I scanned due to little interest. Some I skipped altogether due to lack of interest.