Lauren Achtemeier: The Dead Sea

The upon researching for my paper, I came across an article that contained information about the Jordan River. The fact that it flows into the Dead Sea was interesting because of the symbolism of the river's journey ending and a new phase being entered. This can be better explained by the fact that the Dead Sea has seldom been explored. One such reason is that the high salt levels makes the water somewhat undesirable for sea travel, as well as the fact that its waters are virtually devoid of life. This got me thinking about the unknown that can be experienced at the end of a journey. All people make journey's through life full of meaningful experiences which have the ability to change them. This may occur as they overcome challenges along the path or succeed. But the interesting thing is what happens at the end of a journey, when the individual transitions from one phase to another. So much emphasis is spent on the actual journey, but what about the moments into the great unknown, and into the liminal state. What is the liminal state experienced in a place like the middle of the Dead Sea? It is not nurturing to life, so it would be a lot like death. Is there significance in the name itself? This thought provoking nature of the area has me reeling about the symbolic connection to the end of a journey, where the person is in between the journey state and the return to stability. The Dead Sea seems to represent this place where individuals do not stay for very long, in a liminal state after an epic journey or after overcoming a large obstacle, since it can only go down from such a climax. Only when a person has chosen a new path can they truly move forward, thus the Dead Sea represents the this stalling, which is uncomfortable and leads to a new focus or goal.