Thin
Places
“Every
place, every person, every event is a potential thin place where the
artificial divisions between outer/inner, physical/spiritual,
secular/sacred evaporate.”
Jerry R.
Wright
Have you ever met someone
for the first and only time, who said or did something that changed
you, or who made such an impression on you that you changed direction
and have never forgotten them? I have on many occasions. I have had
deep, heart-felt conversations with total strangers on the street or
on an airplane, whose name I can't remember, but whose words altered
the way I think. Some stories, though small and seemingly
insignificant at the time, stick with you. Even decades later, when
you've forgotten almost everything else, that person, or that event
stands out in your memory. I like to think of those events and people
as “angels unaware.” In Hebrews 13:2, we are told, “And do
not forget kindness to strangers, for by this, some who, though they
were unaware, are worthy to receive angels.”
Also, certain places can
hold a strong pull for you. For some of us that's inside a museum, or
in a formal garden. For some of us, it's a particular culture, or
country. And, for many of us it is outside, in the natural world—in
a forest, or a desert, or beside the ocean. There may even be a
particular spot on the planet where you feel most completely
yourself, most connected to others, where the rhythm and pace of life
suits your soul even though you've spent your whole life somewhere
else. These are the “thin places.” These are the places and
people where you catch a glimpse of the Divine, even if for only a
moment. Sometimes the current is so strong, it stays with you for
days, even years.
I had a chance
conversation on the street a couple of weeks ago that went on for
over an hour. The person spoke of his spiritual beliefs, spoke of
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, even stepped to his truck and retrieved a book
on prayer by Thich Nhat Hanh. It was water stained from leaving the
window open, and a book he read from every day, but he gave it to
me. Why he chose to share these details of his life with me, I will
never know. I had not seen or spoken with this man before, and likely
never will again, but that day, a sidewalk in my own neighborhood,
where I was just walking my dog, was a thin place where, though I was
unaware, I encountered an angel.
If you are awake and open
to experiencing these thin places, where the divisions between
secular and spiritual are weak, you will discover that they happen
all the time in our everyday life. And here is why: we are in “the
kingdom of heaven.” Remember these words: “the kingdom of God is
in your midst.” (Luke 17:21) We're so focused on what is wrong with
this world, and there is plenty wrong, that we miss entirely the fact
that we live smack in the middle of the kingdom of heaven. It's
within us, it's all around us, it's in everyone we meet. We just have
to open our hearts, our minds, and the eyes of our souls to see it.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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