Thin Place

“Thin places,” the Celts call this space,
Both seen and unseen,
Where the door between the world
And the next is cracked open for a moment
And the light is not all on the other side.
God shaped space. Holy.
-poet Sharlande Sledge

I have this growing interest in studying what the ancient Celtics referred to as thin places. For them, this phrase meant "that heaven and earth are only three feet apart, but in the thin places that distance is even smaller. A thin place is where the veil that separates heaven and earth is lifted and one is able to receive a glimpse of the glory of God."

I read on a website something a guy wrote on thin places. It really made me long for this in my life--to walk in a way where heaven and earth are constantly in meeting. (http://www.explorefaith.org/mystery/mysteryThinPlaces.html)

"It is no wonder that thin places are most often associated with wild landscapes. A thin place requires us to step from one world to another and that often means traveling to a place where we have less control and where the unpredictable becomes the means of discovery. Rugged seacoast like the Cliffs of St. David’s, windswept Islands like Iona, and rocky mountain peaks like Croagh Patrick were thin places in ancient times and still call out to pilgrims today. These sanctuaries of creation help us as John O’donohue writes, 'to anchor our longing in the ancient longing of Nature.'

...in a thin place there is an immediacy of experience where words of faith become words of life. In this hallowed space and time heaven and earth for a moment are one. I wanted to sing the song of an anonymous 9th century Welsh poet:

Almighty Creator, it is you who have made the land and the sea…
All your wonders, O true Lord!
The Father created the world by a miracle;
It is difficult to express its measure.
Letters cannot contain it, letters cannot contain it.
We return from thin places refreshed and renewed. We are graced with a new awareness of the thin places in all of life. Having seen the glimpses of glory in those sacred landscapes, we begin to see glimpses all around us. Soon the birds outside our window sing of the mystery we might have passed over in our busyness. Suddenly we see the holiness of places like Bowden Springs and we understand the awe and wonder of the Welsh minister Thomas Jones who exclaimed:

Our Lord is great, and great His praise
From just this one small part of earth,
Then what of the image of His greatness
Which comes from the whole of His fine work?
…What of the greatness and pure loveliness,
Of God Himself?"