The Thin Places

No, I’m not talking about that year when I lost all that weight. Or the cliff edge we had to navigate, hanging on for dear life it was so narrow, lest we lose our footing. No. This is a concept that grabbed my attention when one of my favorite authors, Shauna Neiquist, introduced it to me in her writing. “A thin place is a place where the boundary between the natural world and the supernatural one is more permeable -thinner, if you will”. “Where the passage between heaven and earth is a short one, a place where God’s presence is almost palpable. The boundary between the divine world and the human world becomes almost non existent, and the divine and the human can, for a moment, dance uninterrupted.” She goes on to say, “when we find a thin place, we should live differently in the face of it, because if we don’t, we miss some of the best moments that life with God has to offer us. These thin places are gifts, treasures, and they are worth changing our lives for.”

I have felt strongly that these months, when the entire world has been cut off from one another and most of our regular activities and pursuits have been halted, have become a thin place for me. A place where Gods presence is almost palpable. So intense that it feels tangible. Tangible, as in something that can be touched or felt. The portal to communion with God has been opened and seizing the moment has become expedient.

Interestingly enough, when we cease from our striving and our indulging and our speed and our self sufficiency, there is a quiet where we can hear the voice of God. Being honest, there have been, many other voices out there, in this unique period of history, that have been vying for our attention. Fear. Guilt. Anger. Fear. Uncertainty. Suspicion. Mistrust. Fear. Pride. Arrogance. Fear. But as we shelter at home, we have had the choice to turn off all those other voices and invite God’s voice into our experience. Turning off the harmful voices takes intention. And you have to replace those voices with something else. Something more soothing and more calm. I’ve heard the voice of love speaking to me. Literally drowning out the voices out there. Sometimes, I have been successful and sometimes, not so much.

But when I have been able to experience this thin place (and I have much more during this isolation period), it has been a gift of peace and a treasure trove of wisdom and encouragement. It has brought calm and rationality back in front of me, and inside of me. I have been content to bask, for literally hours, in His presence and have his love and grace wash over me. And not feel one tiny bit guilty that I should have been doing something more productive. I have felt that this was the most productive thing I could do. The most healing. The most illuminating. The most reflective. The most corrective. And it has changed me. Continues to change me. I have felt these thin places breathing life and love back into me. There has been a softening. A more willing submission to the one I endeavour to love with all my heart and soul and mind. There is no fear in these moments or hours or days. The thin places have been a gift for sure. I will continually pursue and hunt for the thin places. A little piece of heaven on earth.