Jessica Buhler ~”The American Front Porch: Women’s Liminal Space”

In an article I read a little while back called “The American Front Porch: Women’s Liminal Space” by Sue Bridwell Beckham, there was one part that I found interesting. “Porticoes on Greek temples and on the ceremonial buildings of America’s Mississippian Indians alike blurred boundaries between the populace outside and the high priests performing their rituals in the inner sanctum. They were bridges between the sacred and the profane from which the highly revered could speak with the lowly and on which they could perform public rites for untutored – or unsanctified – audiences on the outside.” I never looked about a porch this way before. So I starting thinking, where do I see porches besides a person’s home? I see them on a lot of churches. I know my church has a porch and it makes sense that Beckham writes that it is a bridge between the sacred and the profane. Anyone who cross the porch and enters the church is entering sacred territory because it is a place of worship, faith, and the belief of a greater being. The profane or the secular, irreverent people will not cross the porch and enter. Yet the profane will stand as close as the can and just watch the ones who cross in envy. All they need to do is take a leap of faith. Unlike what Beckham writes about the porches and how they were not to be crossed by the profane, these days all are welcomed into the Christian faith. The ones who cross to the sacred on a daily bases would love to share with those who have not yet crossed the strength and power of God.