Minilogue - April 2008

The Spirit of the Stairway

By the Rev. Bruce Johnson

Have you ever had the experience of leaving a gathering of some kind, a meeting or a party, for example, and being overtaken by a belated rush of inspiration, the perfect response to a question that had stumped you earlier, the sudden recall of a name you’d forgotten, or the resolute courage (now that you’re heading out the door and on your way home) to say what you really meant to say all along? The French have a word for this experience--they call it l’esprit de l’escalier, which means literally, “the spirit of the stairway.” A variation of this mood often visits me on Sunday afternoon, after I’ve preached in the morning. I think of what I said, and how I might have said it differently, and better. The Sunday afternoon sermon is usually quite superior to the one delivered in the morning! There’s usually no one around to hear it, though. It occurs to me that perhaps I ought to find a small group of guinea pigs to try out my sermon at about 8:00 a.m. and then, with the benefit of l’esprit, I would be giving my new, improved version at the 10:00 service.

Perhaps you’ve found yourself sitting with someone for an hour or more, talking about a number of things, but with the sense that you’re “beating around the bush,” not really getting to the heart of the matter. Then, when you announce that you have to leave, the conversation turns, and your partner opens up and shares what’s really on his/her heart. It seems to be some kind of natural law; things can’t be hurried along, and it won’t help to say, “let’s just cut to the chase.” Therapists and counselors are well aware of this phenomenon, too. One therapist I know calls it ‘the doorknob effect.”

Many religious traditions have deities that preside over doorways and thresholds, in recognition that there is something sacred and significant about these transitional spaces. It’s why we’re so interested in “famous last words,” I suppose.

Perhaps we could bring “the spirit of the stairway” into the center of the room by imagining (or realizing) that each passing moment is indeed a kind of passage, a transition to the next moment. But there will probably always be some kind of shift in consciousness that takes place at life’s entrances and exits. May we all be mindful of such passages, and may we be blessed “in our going out and our coming in,” as the Psalmist says, “forevermore.”

Rev. Bruce