liminal

Liminal is a word that means "threshold". To be in a liminal place is to be in an in-between place. You've left one place and you are not yet at a new place. A rite-of-passage can be a liminous place. A liminal place is a place where your identity changes and you feel disoriented. You are opened by the circumstances of your life and are given the opportunity for change, growth, and transformation. When a group of people are in a liminal place together, such as when a group of people face crisis or disaster; social classes, previous prejudices, or ranks do not matter. Everyone is in the same boat.

The places of growth and rich revelation in the Bible are often liminous times. These are times of change and disorientation. Much of Abraham's life was liminal, for example.