I just returned this evening from an overnight visit to Visoki Decani monastery in western Kosovo, near the border with Montenegro.
This post will be a work in progress that will take some time to complete, but I wanted to share an image that spoke so much to me when I saw it. The monastery, and its Church of the Ascension, were built in the early 14th century by the Serbian king Stefan Uros III. Despite repeated attacks and looting over the centuries, the church still stands firm as and where it was built. And only heaven knows how many thousands of feet have crossed its threshhold since it was built, gradually wearing down the stone as they did.
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The Threshold
Beyond those doors,
those massive oaken boards,
securely iron-bound,
that lie athwart the path I seek to tread,
that seem to bar the way to what I cannot see ...
Beyond those doors,
enclosed within those grey stone walls,
are hid the ancient golden mysteries
that from here imagination only hopes to know,
but sight of eyes cannot now behold,
nor touch of hands with firmness now embrace. ...
Beyond those doors have many gone,
their countless steps are marked upon the stone,
where feet through ages have the same path trod,
and have carried aching hearts beneath that arch
to that peace that ever lies beyond those doors.
Beyond those doors where I am drawn,
I sense a place where I must go,
and grasp and turn that iron ring,
and push that yielding, welc'ming portal gently in,
and step upon that deeply worn approach,
and pass within, beyond those doors.
Beyond those doors,
an ancient welcome waits, and I ...
Beautiful, Ed. Thank you.
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