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St Francis Magazine Vol 8, No 2 | April 2012 The early church and the early church fathers did not hesitate to embrace the liminality of their existence. Like Abraham who ‘acknowledged’ that he was a sojourner and foreigner (Heb 11:13) they did the same. Doing so had practical ramifications in their relationship with the state, their parental homes and their houses. To a large degree this disposition made them indomitable or impossible to subdue or defeat. The words of the powerful Modestus to the even more powerful Emperor Valens concerning Basil bear this out: “We are conquered by this bishop, whom no threatenings can shake, no arguments move, no promises allure. Timorous or mean men may be wrought upon, but as for him, except by open force, we have no chance of conquering him.” 7. The challenges of the liminal state during pilgrimage 7.1 Heart attitudes When Victor Turner observed people going through a liminal period, he observed that that they have “few or none of the attributes of the past or coming state…as liminal beings, they have no status, property…or position.” 123 Elsewhere he states that liminality is “an ambiguous state” and it “may be for many the acme of insecurity, the breakthrough of chaos.” 124 From a divine perspective the Israelites did have status and security, but their reactions to their liminal position show otherwise. At Rephidim, nicknamed Massah (testing) and Meribah (quarrel/complaining/ dissatisfaction), not far into the journey the heart attitude of the Israelites comes out into the open, and in Exodus 17:7 we read that they “tested the Lord saying “Is the 123 Victor Witter Turner. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. (New Brunswick, NJ: Aldine Transaction, [1997], 2007), pp.94-­‐95. 124 Victor Turner, “Liminal to Liminoid” p. 77 in “The anthropological study of human play” Rice University Studies, Volume 60 no 3 (1974). 257