It’s rare for St. Patrick’s Day to fall on a Sunday, so we are going to make the most of it at Northwest with a service devoted to all things Irish. Having never been to the Emerald Isle, I’m a bit out of my depth. So, I’ve been spending some time this week delving into Irish legend and lore. I journeyed down a wonderful “rabbit hole” of some magical and mystical tales of wily leprechauns, talking salmon, and big-hearted giants. No wonder the Irish are such good storytellers!
Also, in preparation for Sunday, I have been reading up on Celtic spirituality. In doing so, I came across this Irish quote:
“Heaven and earth are only three feet apart. But in the thin places, they are even closer”.
A cornerstone of the Celtic spiritual life is the belief that from time to time, we can experience the thinning of the veil that separates us from the realm of God or the realm of the sacred. Those moments are usually fleeting, but they can be meaningful connections to something beyond ourselves, even as we struggle to define exactly what “beyond” is all about.
Have you ever experienced a “thin place”?
In the past, people have expressed to me that nature is a thin place for them. Walking in the woods, watching the sun dip below the horizon, or standing barefoot on the beach, feeling the ebb and flow of the water over their feet, can be a gentle nudge towards the “other.” In those moments, it can feel as if something in the universe aligns with something within us to produce a feeling of rapture, peace, or contentment.
Other people experience a thin place during a moment when they feel a very intense emotion, such as when they feel love. Holding a baby for the first time can release a flood of affection we never knew we were capable of, making us wonder for a moment about the origin of that love.
And then there is literature, poetry, and music, any of which can draw us into a state in which we feel everything expand within us.
For others, a thin place can be a building or a room, a physical space that makes us feel at home in a way we may never have experienced. In October of 1989, I came home from university and attended church with my parents. As I sat in the pew, listened to the organ play a familiar hymn, and watched the rays of the sun create patterns through the stained glass, I felt a deep peace come over me that, to this day, has never been duplicated. It was a thin place, one that first stirred within me a spiritual curiosity that would lead me toward becoming a minister.
Thin places are rare, but perhaps that is what makes them so compelling and memorable. It is nice when the sacred taps us on the shoulder now and again to remind us that we are held in something so much bigger than we can ever imagine.
“A thin place is like a threshold: a moment when you are briefly suspended between a world that you know, and something totally new, different and awesome” (Anonymous)
What is your thin place?
